A federal judge blocked construction of President Donald Trump's arch, stopping work the administration had hoped to begin immediately, according to NPR. Just before midnight Friday, District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan barred the government from any construction work for 14 days.
The order granted a request filed days earlier by the governments of the District of Columbia and Virginia. In a 33-page opinion, Chutkan scrutinized the administration's competing justifications for the arch, particularly its sudden emphasis on national security, and agreed the local governments are likely to be harmed. The 250-foot arch would stand in Memorial Circle, a traffic island on the bridge linking the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery.
The ruling came less than two hours after the National Capital Planning Commission, packed with presidential allies, granted final approval in an 8-4 vote after nearly eight hours of testimony. The administration had told the court it could begin excavation that same day despite lacking authorization from Congress and facing an expanding legal challenge.
"The threatened harms will materialize as soon as construction begins, in part because the traffic disruptions will occur immediately," Chutkan wrote. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle criticized an "activist district court" for blocking construction and said the administration was confident it would be fully vindicated as the litigation proceeds.