The District of Columbia (DC) and the state of Virginia have filed a joint lawsuit to halt the construction of a large triumphal arch sought by United States President Donald Trump.
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District → file → Trump
Filed on Saturday, the lawsuit denounces the project as “flagrantly unlawful” and “legally indefensible”.
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lawsuit → file → project
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It calls on the federal court system to bar construction before it starts.
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it → keep → construction
Otherwise, the lawsuit warns, Trump could claim that pausing construction already under way would pose a national security risk, as he has done with other controversial projects in the past.
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he → warn → past
“This is not the first time that Defendants have rushed to dramatically remake the District too quickly for courts to intervene,” the lawsuit reads.
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lawsuit → rush → District
“This Court should not allow this effort to escape judicial scrutiny.”
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effort → allow → scrutiny
Saturday’s complaint brings the total number of lawsuits against the arch to three.
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complaint → bring → three
Trump has championed the prospect of building a triumphal arch, similar to the Arc de Triomphe built in Paris during Napoleonic times.
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Trump → champion → times
Trump’s arch, however, is designed to stand 30 metres (100 feet) taller than the Statue of Liberty.
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arch → design → Liberty
It would tower from the Memorial Circle in Washington, DC, at 76 metres (250ft).
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It → tower → metres
That colossal scale has prompted outrage, particularly from veterans’ groups who fear the arch would block views of Arlington National Cemetery, a hallowed military grave site.
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arch → prompt → Cemetery
White House officials maintain that ground could be broken as early as next week, on or around November 5.
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ground → maintain → November
On Friday, the administration unveiled a 106-page proposal for the arch to be a 12-storey megastructure, featuring a winged bronze statue of Lady Liberty lifting an eternal flame.
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arch → unveil → flame
The arch would include two mezzanines and an observation deck with panoramic east-west views, as well as programme spaces, offices and a “fire command centre”.
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arch → include → views
Trump has previously said the arch would double as a military hub with snipers and drone capabilities.
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arch → say → snipers
Construction on the arch would also result in significant traffic changes in the area, including rerouting traffic to nearby roads.
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Construction → result → roads
In Saturday’s lawsuit, Attorneys General Brian Schwalb of Washington, DC, and Jay Jones of Virginia pointed to the project’s disruptive footprint as a major concern.
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Schwalb → point → concern
“As soon as defendants break ground on this project, they will inflict irreparable harm on both the District and Virginia,” the lawsuit said.
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lawsuit → break → District
It warns that the anticipated three-year construction project will stymie commuter traffic, slow down emergency vehicles and generate significant pollution, including “stormwater runoff into the Potomac”.
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project → warn → Potomac
The lawsuit calls on the court to force the Trump administration to get congressional authorisation before any construction can begin.
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construction → call → authorisation
The new legal challenge comes on the heels of an October 8 filing by Arlington County, which was the first governmental body to mount a legal action against Trump’s planned monument.
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which → come → monument
In that lawsuit, the county’s governing board argued that the project would cause “significant harm” to its residents and likely require changes to nearby flight paths.
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project → govern → paths
The first complaint came in February, when a group of Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian launched an effort to stop the arch.
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group → come → arch
District Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing that case, and she is weighing whether to issue a preliminary injunction to temporarily freeze any construction plans while the court hears arguments.
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court → oversee → arguments
At a hearing on Friday, Chutkan deferred an immediate ruling but signalled that she would be issuing a decision expeditiously.
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she → defer → decision
She previously ordered the administration to give the court 48 hours’ notice before undertaking any activities related to the construction of the arch.
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She → order → arch
The monument has already received early approval from the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump.
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members → receive → Trump
The Aporia
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