Washington, DC [US], November 11 (ANI): Members of the prominent Kennedy political family have filed a legal motion against the Trump administration seeking to halt construction of a proposed 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, according to a CNN report.
Nine relatives, including children and grandchildren of the late U.S. Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, filed the court motion in Washington, DC. They argue that the massive structure would obstruct views of family gravesites and the memorials honoring hundreds of thousands of fallen American service members.
As detailed by CNN, the family alleges that “President Donald J. Trump is attempting to unlawfully erect a massive arch that will permanently cast shadows over and damage historically significant sightlines to the existing gravesites and memorials established in the Kennedy family’s honor at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as to the memorials of hundreds of thousands of fallen American heroes.”
The lawsuit argues that the monument’s size and location would obstruct views of the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame from Arlington Memorial Bridge, ultimately “destroying an essential element” of the site’s original design.
The petitioners contend that the administration has “raced forward to build” a landmark described as “more than double the size of the Lincoln Memorial and the equivalent of a twenty-five-story office building.”
The family further argues that “its location in Memorial Circle would situate the monument on an axis between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, obstructing 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.”
According to CNN, the Kennedys have joined an ongoing legal challenge initiated last month by officials from Washington, DC, and Virginia, along with local veterans, preservationists, and Arlington County.
Critics of the project warn that the towering structure would undermine the solemn atmosphere surrounding military funerals and disrupt historic sightlines connecting the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House.
The family’s legal representatives argue that relatives have distinct legal standing to protect the resting places of their family members.
“The gigantic proposed arch is an illegal interference with Arlington National Cemetery and the heroes remembered there, including at the gravesites and memorials of the Kennedy brothers and Ethel Kennedy. Only Congress has the constitutional power to authorize an intrusion of this magnitude,” Norman Eisen and Steve Jonas of the Democracy Defenders Fund said, according to CNN.
“Today, members of the Kennedy family are joining with the other litigants in this case to protect this historic site—and to defend the rule of law and separation of powers,” they added.
Legal challenges have already delayed the administration’s construction timeline. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a 14-day injunction last week prohibiting the executive branch from carrying out any “construction-related activity” near the proposed site following an extended public hearing that ended with a contentious vote.
Although President Donald Trump has previously expressed his ambition to complete the project before the end of his term, the timeline now faces mounting legal obstacles.
An internal National Park Service review published in August acknowledged that the monument would have “adverse” ecological and visual effects across 42 historic sites.
The initiative is part of a broader series of urban redesign projects championed by Trump in the nation’s capital, which critics have frequently characterized as controversial vanity projects.
The Arlington National Cemetery gravesites connected to the litigation include those of President John F. Kennedy, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (ANI)
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