Trump’s 250-Foot Monument Plan: Will It Bypass Congress?

On May 15 (local time), workers measured the site at Memorial Circle, the proposed location for the giant triumphal arch President Donald Trump has proposed for Washington, D.C. / Reuters

The Washington Post reported on May 20 (local time) that the Trump administration says it can move forward with building the giant triumphal arch planned for Washington, D.C., without seeking congressional approval.

According to the Post, President Trump has designated Memorial Circle—the traffic circle on Columbia Island, an artificial island in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., in Virginia—as the proposed site for the arch. Geological inspections and survey teams began work there last week.

The administration envisions the arch rising to 250 feet (about 76 m) to mark the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. That would dwarf the height of the White House (21 m / 69 ft), the Arc de Triomphe in Paris (50 m / 164 ft) and the triumphal arch in Mexico City (67 m / 220 ft).

Memorial Circle is managed by the National Park Service and lies within an area considered protected under federal law. Under those rules, any monument on that land requires congressional approval.

The Trump administration says it does not plan to seek such approval. Anonymous White House and administration officials cited a federal commission report that guided the design of the Arlington Memorial Bridge in 1924, arguing that because Congress approved a similar proposal a century ago, new authorization is unnecessary.

The commission’s report envisioned placing two 166-foot (about 51 m) columns and statues on Columbia Island to frame the nearby Lincoln Memorial, and Congress formally approved that report in 1925.

Arlington Memorial Bridge was built, but the proposed columns were never erected. The administration says constructing an arch today would carry forward the intent of past congressional action.

On May 15 (local time), flags marked the survey points at Memorial Circle, the proposed site for President Trump’s planned triumphal arch in Washington, D.C. / Reuters AP

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urged support for the project, saying President Trump believes this year—the 250th anniversary of American independence—is the perfect moment to realize a vision for Columbia Island that has gone unfulfilled for more than a century.

But legal experts, Democratic lawmakers and civic groups strongly counter that federal law requires Congress to approve any monument built on protected federal land.

Public Citizen, joined by Vietnam War veterans, has filed a lawsuit arguing the arch would obstruct views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, harming a landscape that symbolizes national unity after the Civil War.

Wendy Liu, an attorney for Public Citizen, called the notion that Congress approved construction of an arch at Memorial Circle a century ago “absurd,” saying Congress did not approve this arch.

Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the National Park Service, called the argument that approval for a completely different project a century ago provides legal authority today “ridiculous,” and said the administration must obtain congressional approval to build the arch.

Democratic lawmakers have demanded congressional hearings on several of the administration’s proposed projects, including the arch, renovations to the White House ballroom and work on the presidential pond.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which reviews and approves monuments, sculptures and buildings in Washington, D.C., plans to review the administration’s revised arch proposal—revised last month to reflect the commission’s feedback—on May 22.