Kennedy Family Members Sue to Stop Construction of Trump Arch

On Tuesday, nine members of the dynastic political family filed a motion in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block the arch from being built, arguing that it would obstruct views of the family’s gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery, including that of President John F. Kennedy.

“This action is about protecting sacred spaces that belong to the American people,” Rory Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy, two of the plaintiffs and children of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, said in a statement on Tuesday. “A towering arch casting shadows across the graves of our father, mother, and uncles, as well as the graves of so many who have served our country, would also cast a shadow over our democratic principles, undermining the safeguards established by our elected representatives to protect this hallowed ground for generations to come.”

The plaintiffs include the children and grandchildren of the late Sens. Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, who are among several Kennedy family members buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S.’s largest military cemetery. Other Kennedys buried or memorialized there include JFK, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, their two children Patrick and Arabella, as well as Robert F. Kennedy’s wife Ethel, and Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

The family argued that the 250-foot arch—“more than double the size of the Lincoln Memorial and the equivalent of a twenty-five-story office building”—would obscure views of the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame and Kennedy gravesites from the Arlington Memorial Bridge. It also argued that it would “cast shows over … the memorials of hundreds of thousands of fallen American heroes.”

The arch’s proposed site is located in Memorial Circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, which the family argue would obstruct “a line of sight that was designed to represent the unification of the Nation following the Civil War and that has existed for nearly a century.”

“The gigantic proposed arch is an illegal interference with Arlington National Cemetery and the heroes remembered there,” attorneys Norman Eisen and Steve Jonas of Democracy Defenders Fund, which represents the family members, said. “Only Congress has the constitutional power to authorize an intrusion of this magnitude.”

The Kennedy family is not the first group to mount a legal challenge against the project. Their Nov. 10 filing seeks to join a lawsuit filed last month by D.C. and Virginia, which argued that the arch violates historic preservation laws and would hinder traffic and emergency services. It also argued that the project did not have congressional authorization. That lawsuit was consolidated with an earlier suit filed in February by a group of three veterans and an architectural historian. It is being overseen by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee.

The arch has faced significant backlash from Democratic lawmakers, preservationists, and the public. During a nine-hour-long public hearing on Thursday, dozens of people testified against construction of the arch. Preservationists pointed to an August review by the National Park Service in which the Administration noted the arch would have an “adverse” impact on up to 42 historic sites.