Key federal panel approves Trump's arch while it's being challenged in court

A key federal panel gave final approval Thursday night to President Donald Trump’s proposed memorial arch near downtown Washington, clearing a key hurdle on the road to breaking ground.

The National Capital Planning Commission approved the 250-foot-high (76-meter) project that Trump has sought as part of his efforts to remake the capital region. The 8-4 vote gives a green light to launch launch construction, which administration officials have said could happen within a day.

The arch still faces legal challenges and a judge is expected to rule soon on whether to block it.

The final vote came after nine and a half hours and scores of people opposing it. The vote by the commission broke along federal and local lines. Those in favor work for the administration or are connected to the president, who was pushing for the immediate construction. Opponents represented the city of Washington.

The remote, call-in hearing — which crashed repeatedly in the first few hours and was accompanied by a nearly universally negative comment section — drew witnesses who gave impassioned comments opposing an arch they said will destroy the solemnity of the nearby Arlington National Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of fallen service members and military veterans are buried.

The panel's Trump-appointed chairman, however, launched the meeting with a gushing appraisal of the towering monument and lauded Trump for wanting to build it.

“President Trump understands as president and a superb builder that it’s important to our national identity to display who we are through grand monuments,” said Mark Paoletta, the commission's chairman.

As Trump has often remarked, “the great cities around the world have arches: Paris, Rome, London,” said Paoletta, who also serves as general counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget. In addition to Paoletta, the arch received support during the hearing from Republican lawmakers and a veteran who praised the administration's efforts to build the monument.

The commission oversees construction on federal land in the city and began reviewing the arch plan in June.

Trump is working to remake Washington

The arch is one of several projects around Washington that the Republican president has undertaken as he alters the capital to his tastes — from renovating one of its storied public golf courses to threatening to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Those projects could soon face intense scrutiny after Democrats gained control of Congress in the midterm elections this week.

Many of the plans are being challenged in the courts, and three lawsuits have been filed opposing the arch. A judge has been asked to block the construction so long as lawsuits are still being litigated, and she could rule as early as Thursday.

Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is set to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, called the project ill-advised and illegal.

“This arch would dishonor America,” Huffman told the commission. He called the proposed arch “a tribute to Donald Trump,” not veterans as Trump administration officials claim. The monument is similar to those built for emperors or kings, Huffman said, adding that Trump was using veterans as a pretext to build a memorial to himself.

A small group of protesters joined at the proposed site to oppose the arch. Julius Spain, a member of the Arlington County Board and a veteran of the Iraq war, told the crowd it was their moment. “I’ve seen combat. I was prepared to give my life in defense of a grateful nation,“ he said. “And now in this moment, my friends, and residents and citizens and everyone, this is our civil rights moment.”

Virginia Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw told the protesters that if the arch is somehow built, “I’m not going to stop until we ensure it’s a temporary arch.”

Families of service members buried at Arlington speak out against arch

Opponents argue that the arch is too big for the skyline and would disrupt carefully designed sight lines between landmarks in and around the capital — most prominently the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery — that were meant to symbolize the reunification of the North and the South after the Civil War.

Many who spoke against the arch were veterans or relatives of family members buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jamie Langston, a Gulf War veteran whose father-in-law is buried at Arlington, said she was “appalled by the vulgar disregard for our fallen heroes who rightly deserve to rest in peace.” She decried the prospect of tourists taking selfies at the site and said the arch, if built, will “destroy the sanctity of Arlington Cemetery in utter disrespect for the service and sacrifice of our nation’s heroes."

Martha O'Connell, whose brother is buried at Arlington, said the massive building would cast a literal shadow over her brother and thousands more “who earned their right to rest in peace.”

But the opposition has done little to influence the members of the commission, which is led by some of Trump’s closest allies. Trump appointed Paoletta to chair the 12-member panel. Two other commissioners are also White House aides, and five more represent the administration or congressional committees chaired by Republicans.

Trump wants an arch, but it faces legal challenges

Still, a federal judge on Monday complicated Trump’s efforts to move quickly on the project.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s plans, said she must be told of any decision by the planning commission within an hour. The order set the same time limits for any decision by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.

Before Thursday’s hearing began, attorneys with the Justice Department filed a notice with Chutkan informing her that a contractor had already done site preparation work on Oct. 31, apparently without authorization from the National Park Service.

The plaintiffs in the three lawsuits are calling for a halt to work on a monument that is set to be built on a patch of grass off a bridge that spans the Potomac River and connects Washington with Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia. When complete, the monument would be 100 feet (30 meters) taller than the Statue of Liberty without its pedestal.

Critics, including the plaintiffs, argue that the Trump administration must seek congressional approval. The administration maintains that Congress cleared the way for a monument at Memorial Circle decades ago.

Paoletta said it was a “national disgrace” that a memorial arch had not been placed there, despite a 1925 law that designated such a memorial, he said.

Last week, the government submitted a 106-page plan for the arch that envisions a massive structure more than 12 stories high 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 and two mezzanines.

Inside the arch would be rooms for program space, offices, a staff lounge, circular staircases, multiple elevators and a fire command center. The project proposes significant traffic changes in the area, including rerouting traffic on nearby roads. Administration officials have said the arch also will have a national security function.

In a recent hearing, Chutkan asked why the Trump administration was so keen on moving ahead quickly with the arch despite the ongoing lawsuits, aside from Trump’s “desire to bedazzle the city.”

Administration lawyer Robert Stander said the arch was “absolutely a high-priority project” and any ruling delaying construction would impede the work of the government.

___

Associated Press videographer Nathan Ellgren contributed to this story.