WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge on Monday complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to move forward. construction of a memorial arch, set multiple notification deadlines before any work can begin.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversees a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s plans, said she must be informed of any decision by the National Capital Planning Commission within one hour. The order sets the same deadlines for any decision by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.
All three are part of a process the administration laid out in informing the court of its plans Oct. 28 while awaiting Nov. 5 approval of construction from the National Capital Planning Commission. The government notice said construction could begin once approval was obtained, the Ministry of Interior issued a final decision authorizing construction and the appropriate notification was issued. “NPS may issue such notice as early as November 5, 2026, and construction may begin as early as November 5, 2026,” the notice states.
Chutkan, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, said that “Defendants must also provide notice within thirty minutes of any activity related to or in preparation for the construction of an arch on Memorial Circle. Defendants are reminded that any construction or demolition in preparation for construction before the National Park Service issues final agency action authorizing construction or without 14 days’ notice would be a violation of previous court orders.”
The motion is the latest in a flurry of court activity over the weekend. Chutkan was already considering a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by three Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian when the District of Columbia and Virginia filed a separate suit opposing construction and seeking a temporary restraining order.
The judge grouped the files and established a joint briefing schedule, indicating that her decision would likely be triggered by the planning commission meeting.
On Friday, the government submitted a 106-page plan for the arch that envisions a massive structure more than 12 stories tall that includes a huge bronze statue of Lady Liberty with wings and carrying a torch with an eternal flame. The structure would include an observation deck with views to the east and west, an “occupied roof” and two mezzanines.
Inside the ark are program rooms, offices, a staff lounge, circular staircases, several elevators, and a “fire command center.” The project proposes significant changes to traffic in the area, including rerouting traffic on nearby roads. Administration officials said the ark would also serve a national security function.
At the Oct. 30 hearing, Chutkan asked what the urgency was and what harm would be to the government “besides the executive’s desire to dazzle the city” if she issued a preliminary injunction while the trial proceeded. Administration lawyer Robert Stander said the arch was “absolutely a high-priority project” and that if Chutkan intervened, it would hamper the government’s work.
The bow is one of several projects around Washington that President Donald Trump undertook by remaking the city, renovating one of its historic monuments public golf courses to threaten to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Charles A. Birnbaum, founding president and CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, one of the organizations opposing the administration’s plans, said Chutkan’s order sends a message: “The administration is learning that it cannot ignore the judiciary in the same way it has ignored the public.” »
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