The Kennedy family is joining the efforts to block the construction of President Trump’s 250-foot triumphal arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
Nine members of the Kennedy family are the latest parties to challenge the development of an arch near Arlington National Cemetery, according to a Tuesday legal filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The Kennedy family members said the massive arch would “permanently cast shadows” over the graves of their relatives and those of fallen American servicemembers and obstruct the designed sightline from the eternal flame at President John F. Kennedy’s gravesite.
“We believe Donald Trump has violated the laws and procedures established by Congress to protect this most sacred national memorial,” said Rory Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy, children of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, in a joint statement Tuesday.
“A towering arch casting shadows across the graves of our father, mother, and uncles, as well as the graves of so many who have served our country, would also cast a shadow over our democratic principles, undermining the safeguards established by our elected representatives to protect this hallowed ground for generations to come,” they added.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A federal district judge temporarily blocked construction of the arch last week. The decision came after the National Capital Planning Commission, led by Trump appointees, approved plans for the project. The triumphal arch, as Trump calls it, is being constructed to honor the nation’s 250th anniversary, according to the National Park Service. Trump has said it would also serve as a military complex with snipers and drones.
Three veterans and an architectural historian were the first to sue the Trump administration over the project in February. The District of Columbia and Virginia filed a separate lawsuit to stop the project late last month.
Those seeking to block the arch’s construction argue the president doesn’t have the authority to move forward with the project without congressional approval, which is required when building structures or new monuments on federal public land in the nation’s capital. Government lawyers have said the National Park Service has authority over national parkland.
The Kennedys argue they have interest in blocking the arch’s construction to protect the gravesites and memorials of family members including the former president and his brothers, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, all of whom are buried or memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery across the bridge from D.C. in Virginia.
The proposed arch would be twice as large as the Lincoln Memorial and take about three years to complete. It is one of several construction projects the president has pursued around the nation’s capital during his second term, including Trump’s White House ballroom and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The president has pushed through construction of these projects even as they face litigation arguing he has failed to obtain congressional approval.
Write to Jennifer Calfas at jennifer.calfas@wsj.com
