Overview
- The administration says it will not seek new congressional approval and is relying on a 1925 Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission authorization to justify a proposed 250-foot commemorative arch near the Lincoln Memorial.
- The proposed design uses a 166-foot base tied to the 1925 plan plus an added 84-foot pedestal and statuary to reach 250 feet, which would exceed the height of Paris’s Arc de Triomphe.
- Officials have begun site surveys and geotechnical testing at Memorial Circle and requested an FAA aeronautical study because structures over 200 feet near Reagan National can trigger safety findings that force height reductions or mitigation.
- The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts is reviewing a revised design that removes four golden lions but keeps the 250-foot height, while the National Park Service has not issued final construction approval.
- Veterans and an architectural historian, represented by the Public Citizen Litigation Group, have sued in federal court arguing the 1925 authorization did not permit this new monument and that the arch would harm historic sightlines.