A group of veterans who legally challenged President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot arch pushed back against the administration’s request earlier this week to dissolve a court order that required 48 hours’ notice before engaging in any construction.
At the center of the legal battle’s newest phase is Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s Sept. 3 statement that groundbreaking for the arch would begin within the next two weeks — a social media announcement that the plaintiffs say violated the federal judge’s prior order for two weeks’ advance notice and created “consequences” for the government, a Friday court filing says.
The plaintiffs subsequently filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to halt the work after Burgum shared his post on X. They argued that Burgum’s announcement ran afoul a previous court order from U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan that required the National Park Service to give at least 14 days’ notice prior to “commencement of construction, or demolition in preparation for construction” while litigation was pending.
Chutkan’s 48 hours’ notice — signed Sept. 4, a day after Burgum’s announcement — applied to activity such as excavation and construction, but exempted on-site information gathering to ensure compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act.
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At the time, it was unclear whether the secretary’s social media post had constituted two weeks’ notice based on the first court order.
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In its motion to dissolve the 48 hours’ notice on Thursday, the Trump administration called it an “unlawful and unwarranted” hold on “routine agency actions that cause no harm to Plaintiffs and in the meanwhile disturbs the Executive Branch’s prerogatives to maintain property under its jurisdiction and control.”
The government also argued in its filing that the plaintiffs “manufactured a false emergency based on a misconstrued social media post” in order to stop excavation. Burgum’s announcement, the administration said, “simply summarized” plans that had been disclosed on the NPS’ website that required excavation to comply with legal statutes prior to construction.
In their response Friday, the veterans countered that the government was seeking to “avoid the consequences of Secretary Burgum’s announcements” and the “transparency” required by the 48 hours’ notice.
The veterans said they were “reasonably concerned that NPS was planning imminently to begin construction of the arch” and that the Trump administration “quickly backtracked” on Burgum’s statements after the temporary restraining order was filed.
“The Court’s order reasonably avoids the need for future emergency motions by ensuring that Defendants provide timely and accurate information about their steps to implement a massive and irreversible construction project that Plaintiffs contend has no legal foundation and that is rapidly progressing in the face of an active legal challenge,” the veterans’ filing read.
The arch is one of the many construction projects spearheaded by Trump to rework D.C. landmarks to match his gilded aesthetics. Like other projects, such as the White House ballroom and the redesign of a golf course, the arch has faced criticism from local residents and lawmakers for its scale.
The veterans sued the Trump administration in February, stating that the arch requires congressional approval and would obstruct the view of Arlington National Cemetery.
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