Judge Complicates Construction Timeline on Trump’s Memorial Arch Project with Multiple Deadlines
A judge on Monday complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to plow forward on construction of a memorial arch, setting multiple notification deadlines before any work can begin.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration plans, said she must be told of any decision by the National Capital Planning Commission within an hour. The order set the same time limits for any decision by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.
All three are part of a process the administration laid out in notifying the court of its plans October 28 pending approval November 5 of the construction by the National Capital Planning Commission.
The government’s notice said construction could begin once that approval was finished, the Interior Department issued a final decision authorizing construction and the proper notification was published.
“NPS may publish such notice as early as November 5, 2026, and construction could commence as early as November 5, 2026,” the notice said.
Chutkan, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said “defendants shall also provide notice within thirty minutes of any activity related to or in preparation for the construction of an arch on Memorial Circle.”
She reminded the defendants that “any construction or demolition in preparation for construction before the National Park Service issues final agency action authorization would be in violation of this order.”