Nine members of the Kennedy family filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from building its proposed 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” near Arlington National Cemetery, arguing in part that the monument would cast shadows over Kennedy family gravesites, including that of former President John F. Kennedy.
“This action is about protecting sacred spaces that belong to the American people,” Rory Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy said in a statement released on behalf of the family on Tuesday.
The family’s lawsuit centers around their concerns that construction of the proposed arch — which they note would be as tall as a 25-story office building — would obstruct sight-lines of the family gravesite as well as “permanently cast a shadow over the graves of servicemen and women” in the cemetery.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan last week temporarily blocked the administration from beginning construction, a decision that came just hours after a federal panel voted Thursday night to give final approval to the project. Chutkan granted the D.C. and Virginia governments’ request for a temporary restraining order, halting the Trump administration’s efforts to begin construction for at least 14 days.
The complaint filed on Tuesday by the Kennedys in federal court in D.C. argues in part that the National Park Service and Interior Department authorized construction without the necessary congressional approval.
“We believe [President] Donald Trump has violated the laws and procedures established by Congress to protect this most sacred national memorial,” the family said. “In bringing this lawsuit, we stand for those who cannot stand for themselves.”
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle responded to the Kennedy family’s motion to block the construction, calling the move “unfortunate” and saying the administration is “confident we will be fully vindicated as this litigation proceeds.”
“An activist district court has temporarily blocked the construction of the long-awaited Arch,” Ingle said in a statement to ABC. “It is unfortunate to see that some members of the Kennedy family have joined the litigation against the Arch as the project is intended to honor our heroes who rest in Arlington Cemetery.”
“The judiciary should not be abused to politicize a structure designed to unite our nation,” Ingle added. “We will continue making the case for this beautiful and fitting monument and are confident we will be fully vindicated as this litigation proceeds. We look forward to seeing the completion of this magnificent Arch—a tribute to 250 years of American greatness.”
The Kennedys in filing their lawsuit became the latest group to pursue legal action against the proposed monument, which already faces a lawsuit from D.C.’s and Virginia’s attorneys general, as well as a lawsuit filed by three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian.
The Kennedy family said in their filing that the monument’s proposed location between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington would obstruct a line of sight “that was designed to represent the unification Of the Nation following the Civil War and that has existed for nearly a century.”
“That will also obstruct the clear sightline of the Kennedy Gravesites and JFK Eternal Flame in Arlington National Cemetery, from the Arlington Memorial Bridge, destroying an essential element of the Gravesites’ design; and will permanently cast a shadow Over the graves of servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, including the Kennedy Gravesites,” the lawsuit says.
The family members filing the suit are Rory Kennedy, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, Christopher G. Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Joseph P. Kennedy III, Edward M. Kennedy Jr. and Courtney Kennedy.
“Our parents, Robert and Ethel Kennedy, and our uncles, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, are laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery,” the family said in its statement. “Our uncle Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., who lost his life serving our country in World War II, is also memorialized there.”
More than 400,000 service members and their family members are buried at the cemetery.
The president said in September on his social media platform that the arch was being built for national security purposes at the Pentagon’s request, claiming that it would also be used as a “top-grade Military Complex.” The Pentagon declined to comment at the time on the president’s claim in response to an ABC News request.
Chutkan in her opinion on Thursday questioned the administration’s arguments for the arch, including its proposed national security uses.
“The court appreciates the government’s significant interest in national security,” Chutkan wrote. “But these recent and unsupported attestations of security aspects of a structure that has been extensively discussed over the last year appear nowhere in the planning documents on which the project was reviewed and approved. Indeed, they materialized, for the first time, when Defendants filed their opposition brief last week.”
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