Chutkan Halts Trump's 250-Foot Arch Hours After Planning Panel Approves It

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday night barred the administration from any "construction-related activity" on President Trump's planned triumphal arch for 14 days — just hours after the National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-4 to approve the project.

The commission acted after nearly nine hours of public comment and more than 1,300 written comments, most of them opposed, CBS News reported. Its executive director, Mark Paoletta, had recommended approval.

The suit was brought by a group of Vietnam War veterans, including Michael Lemmon and Shaun Byrnes, along with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia. In a 33-page ruling, Chutkan wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to show the government skipped required legal processes, and found Virginia and D.C. likely have standing based on claimed economic harm from traffic problems at the site.

The Justice Department had called the plaintiffs' motions "breathless" and urged Chutkan to follow the Supreme Court's ruling in the White House ballroom case, which found a similar challenge likely lacked standing. White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the administration is "confident" it will be vindicated.

The project itself: a 166-foot arch topped with three gilded figures for a total height of 250 feet, set in Memorial Circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Construction is expected to take three years, and the FAA found it poses "no hazard to air navigation."

Critics, including Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), argue Congress should decide on the monument. Supporters would answer that a federal planning body that followed its public process has already voted — and that one district judge's temporary order shouldn't be the last word on whether America builds a monument. The order is temporary, and the administration is expected to keep fighting it.