A federal judge has temporarily halted construction of the arch President Donald Trump planned to build in Washington, DC, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the order not long after the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) voted to approve plans for the arch, the Hill reported Friday, noting the pause was set for 14 days.
The model of the arch resembled the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, and the White House in February said it would be part of Trump’s legacy before the nation celebrated America’s 250th birthday in July.
The White House in January called it “Independence Arch”:
Per the Hill article:
In a memorandum opinion filed with the order, Chutkan wrote that D.C. and Virginia — which sued the administration over the project last month — “have shown that construction of the Arch will cause harm by ‘clogging traffic, impeding disaster preparedness, and harming the environment,’ which will also ‘require both jurisdictions to expend resources to monitor and mitigate those impacts.’”
“First, the harm is certain,” the judge continued. “Second, the District and Virginia will incur significant unrecoverable costs.”
“These are not self-inflicted costs. When federal action causes a state to undertake ‘expenditures to mitigate and recover from harms that could have been prevented’ absent that action, the state suffers an injury to its proprietary interests,” she added.
In response to Chutkan’s ruling, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said, “The White House commends the National Capital Planning Commission’s decision to fully approve President Trump’s historic vision to build a much needed Triumphal Arch in Washington, D.C. An activist district court thereafter blocked the construction of the project.”
“We are confident we will be fully vindicated as this litigation proceeds and look forward to seeing the completion of this magnificent Arch — a tribute to 250 years of American greatness,” he continued, according to NBC News.
President Trump unveiled a rendering of the arch in April that showed two eagles flanking a winged Lady Liberty-like figure standing over the words, “One Nation Under God,” and golden lions seated at its base.
In early September, Breitbart News reported that work on the arch would begin in the next two weeks.
“The iconic landmark will be privately funded and has already received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts,” the outlet said at the time.
