Nine members of the Kennedy family have asked a federal court in Washington to block President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot triumphal arch, arguing that the monument would overshadow the graves of their relatives at Arlington National Cemetery.

The family members filed a motion on Tuesday, 10 November, to join a court case already brought against the project. They say the arch would obstruct views of the family’s burial plots and cast shadows over the memorials of hundreds of thousands of fallen service members.

What the Kennedys argue

In their filing, the Kennedys said the arch “will permanently cast shadows over and damage historically significant sight lines to the existing grave sites and memorials established in the Kennedy family’s honor at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as to the memorials of hundreds of thousands of fallen American heroes.”

The family members behind the filing include the children and grandchildren of President John F. Kennedy’s brothers, Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy. Six members of the Kennedy family are buried at Arlington, including President Kennedy, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel Kennedy, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

The Kennedys argue that the design and the location of the arch would obstruct the clear view of the family’s gravesites, including the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame, from the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

The arch and where it would stand

The proposed arch would stand 250 feet, or 76 metres, tall — more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial and roughly the equivalent of a 25-storey office building, according to the family’s filing. A rendering shows it topped by a flame held by a 60-foot gold winged female figure, flanked by gold flying eagles.

It would be built across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, on a highway roundabout near the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.

The Trump administration says the arch would honour veterans and contends that Congress approved it more than 100 years ago, when it also authorised construction of a bridge across the Potomac River. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Kennedy filing.

Court order already in place

A federal judge has already issued a temporary order blocking construction through 19 November while she considers whether to grant a preliminary injunction. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled last week that the administration would be prohibited from starting or carrying out any construction-related activity near the proposed site for 14 days.

That order followed a final vote approving the structure late last week, despite fierce opposition from members of the public during a marathon hearing.

The Kennedys are joining a lawsuit filed last month by Washington, DC, and the state of Virginia. Veterans and preservation groups, as well as Arlington County, have also sued to stop the project.

A wider fight over the project

In a review released in August, the National Park Service acknowledged that the arch would have “adverse” effects on as many as 42 historic sites.

President Trump has previously said he intends to complete the arch before he leaves office in two years, although the legal challenges have complicated that timetable. Numerous Democrats in Congress have vowed to block construction once they take control in January, after winning November’s midterm elections.

The dispute also cuts across the Kennedy family itself. The president’s health secretary is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of the assassinated former president, who serves in the administration whose project his relatives are now challenging in court.

Source: Reuters