Trump's Arlington Arch Lacks Final Approval. Excavation Starts in Weeks, Interior Says.

Vietnam veterans sued to stop the 250-foot arch planned for a traffic island between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

Excavation for a 250-foot arch on the traffic island between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial could begin as soon as Sept. 21, 2026. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Thursday, Sept. 4, that his department was getting ready to dig, NPR reported. The National Capital Planning Commission hasn't granted the project final approval, and it doesn't meet again until early October.

The people trying to stop it are Vietnam War veterans. They sued earlier this year in federal court in Washington, represented by the nonprofit Public Citizen, asking a judge to bar the government “from taking any steps to construct or to direct or facilitate construction of any structure” at the site. In the suit they argue the arch desecrates Arlington National Cemetery and that Congress has to approve it first.

Burgum said the department is “preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary” for what the administration calls the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck, the outlet reported. The White House said the work starting now is the kind that doesn't need approval and instead helps move the process forward.

The approvals are split. The Commission of Fine Arts, whose members are all Trump appointees, signed off on the final design in May. Aviation-safety and historic-preservation reviews are still pending, and Memorial Circle sits under two miles from the final approach into Reagan National Airport.

On Sept. 4, government lawyers moved to dismiss the veterans' case for lack of standing, leaning on the Supreme Court's ruling in the White House ballroom litigation. “Plaintiffs' distaste for the perceived symbolism of the proposed arch does not establish a concrete and particularized injury,” the motion says.

A day later the administration told the court what the digging actually is: “mechanically excavating four test pits” for archaeology, beginning no sooner than Sept. 21 and restored by Oct. 31, according to NPR's account of the filing.

Late on Sept. 5, the judge required 48 hours' notice before any activity at Memorial Circle other than gathering information on site. That sits on top of an existing order requiring two weeks' notice before construction or demolition.

The judge ordered notice, not a halt.

Nicolas Sansone is the Public Citizen attorney leading the case. He told NPR that everyone should be troubled by a system in which the executive branch builds first and answers the legality question later.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., called the project illegal, narcissistic and a source of more gridlock, the outlet reported, and said he thinks Republicans expect to lose the House majority in nine weeks. A National Park Service report found the arch would disrupt the historical significance of dozens of nearby sites.

Under the administration's own schedule, no test pit gets dug before Sept. 21 and the ground goes back by Oct. 31. The planning commission's next meeting falls in between.