By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to give 48 hours’ notice before engaging in any activity on the site of a triumphal arch it wants to build near Arlington National Cemetery, except for work to identify underground cultural artifacts.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan came a day after the U.S. Interior Department announced plans to move forward soon with work on the 250-foot (76-meter) arch near despite legal challenges and the lack of final approval from a government planning authority.
In a U.S. District Court filing on Friday seeking a temporary restraining order, lawyers for a group of three military veterans and an architectural historian said the administration has “no legal basis for the construction work.” They said the arch violates federal law and needs approval from Congress.
The administration has argued a 1925 law that authorized a now-defunct commission to build Washington’s Arlington Memorial Bridge provides congressional approval for the arch, which the opponents dispute.
Despite Thursday’s announcement on X by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum of work starting after “a very long wait,” the government said in a court filing Friday the planned excavation work at the arch site was “not construction, or demolition in preparation for construction, of an arch.”
The government said in its court filing that it plans to dig four “test pits” to assess if any artifacts or cultural materials are present, starting on or after September 21. It said it would restore the site by October 31.
Chutkan in April sharply questioned Trump’s authority to build the arch, and the government agreed in April to provide 14 days’ notice before starting construction as part of a consent order entered by the judge.
The Interior Department reiterated that notice plan on Friday.
In her latest ruling, Chutkan ordered the administration to provide the court at least 48 hours’ notice before “engaging in any activity” at the site, except efforts to gather information on archaeological resources beneath subsurface fill materials as required under the National Historic Preservation Act.
She also reiterated that any construction or demolition in preparation for construction before the National Park Service issues a final authorization, or without providing 14 days’ notice, would violate Friday’s order and her previous consent order.
The arch is part of Trump’s broader effort to leave his architectural mark on America’s capital city, with projects including a new White House ballroom, renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and redevelopment of a golf course in East Potomac Park.
With a design evoking Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, the new monument would rise near Arlington cemetery, a sprawling military burial ground, which supporters say would honor the sacrifice of American veterans.
Opponents say the arch would destroy the cemetery’s carefully designed historic sight line between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House across the Potomac River.
The project also has yet to receive final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, which is considering whether to grant an exception to the 130-foot (40-meter) building height limit that applies to most of Washington.
In their Friday court filing, opponents of the project pointed to Trump’s construction of a ballroom on the White House grounds as a “cautionary tale,” saying the government proceeded with construction even though a District Court found it unlawful and a Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week in a 5-4 ruling let ballroom construction continue while Trump challenges a judicial order that would halt much of the development, with Chief Justice John Roberts in a dissent calling the project “likely unlawful.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Editing by Franklin Paul, Cynthia Osterman and Shri Navaratnam)
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