Trump administration lawyers wrote in a court filing last month that "neither the underlying Congressional authorization to build the columns — nor the discretion to modify column design — have expired."
The Justice Department asserted that the administration holds the legal authority to construct the monument based on the historical Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission report previously approved by lawmakers.
Criticism and Legal Challenges
The proposed arch has drawn sharp criticism from local officials and preservationists who argue the structure is too large and disrupts the historic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
Priya Jain, who chairs the heritage conservation committee at the Society of Architectural Historians, said at an NCPC meeting last month that historical renderings demonstrate that the 1925 plan for two individual columns is materially different from the massive single arch now being proposed.
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Local preservation officers have also expressed concern that placing the monument at the traffic roundabout on the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge would cause irreversible harm to the area's cultural landscape.
David Maloney, the city’s historic preservation officer, warned that the project would "severely damage an exceptional cultural landscape and one of the most important symbolic places in the nation."
Critics note that Washington's major memorials have traditionally been selected through open design competitions, a process they say was bypassed in this instance.
Design critic Catesby Leigh originally proposed the arch in April 2025 on a conservative think tank's website, featuring a sketch by architect Nicolas Charbonneau of Harrison Design, who was later introduced as the lead designer.
