Judge Temporarily Blocks Construction of Trump's Proposed 250-Foot Arch

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan temporarily blocked construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed monumental arch in Washington, D.C., in a ruling dated November 5. She granted a temporary restraining order requested by the District of Columbia and Virginia after the Interior Department issued its final approval that day. Chutkan found that the two jurisdictions were likely to succeed in arguing that Interior’s approval violated the Commemorative Works Act and, consequently, the Administrative Procedure Act. The proposal’s stated purpose of commemorating American independence and founding principles likely brought it within the law’s definition of a commemorative work. In addressing the threatened harm, Chutkan wrote: “First, the harm is certain.” The opinion identified traffic disruption, emergency-preparedness impacts, environmental harm and public spending that could not be recovered. It cited an environmental assessment describing lane closures, detours and traffic restrictions during an estimated two to three years of construction. The government argued that a 1925 congressional statute authorized the project and put it outside the later commemorative-works law. The judge rejected that position at this preliminary stage. Official planning materials describe a 166-foot arch topped by gilded statuary reaching 250 feet overall. The proposed site is Memorial Circle on Columbia Island, within Washington, at the western end of Arlington Memorial Bridge. Three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian sued on February 19, 2026. The District of Columbia and Virginia filed their case on October 31, and the proceedings were consolidated. The temporary order is not a final judgment: Chutkan deferred the jurisdictions’ request to stay agency action and held the veterans’ separate preliminary-injunction motion in abeyance.