Kennedys sue to block Trump’s gilded arch, saying it would ‘cast shadow’ over JFK grave site

250ft arch risks ‘permanently diminishing’ memorials to ex-president and relatives at Arlington cemetery, lawsuit says

Nine members of the Kennedy family political dynasty have sued the Trump administration, asking a federal judge to block the president’s plan to build a towering, gilded arch they say would cast a shadow over their relatives’ graves in Arlington national cemetery.

The family’s complaint states that the 25oft triumphal arch, topped with a Lady Liberty-like winged figure, would “obstruct the clear sightline of the Kennedy Gravesites” and “fundamentally alter the experience of visiting” their family’s memorial at Arlington national cemetery. The project, they argued in a statement, risks “permanently diminishing these memorials”.

“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,” two of the plaintiffs, Rory Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy said in a statement on behalf of the family.

The lawsuit is the latest legal challenge to befall the president’s proposed arch, modelled after the Arc de ⁠Triomphe in Paris. Last week, US district judge Tanya Chutkan blocked the Trump administration from breaking ground on the project for 14 days.

The justice department recently said construction of the arch, which is modelled on Paris’s Arc de ⁠Triomphe, would not be completed until after the end of Donald Trump’s second term. On 6 November, a federal judge blocked any construction work from beginning on the arch for 14 days.

Trump has claimed that the arch will be converted into a “top-grade military complex” replete with drone and ammunition storage space and customized sniper facilities on the roof and plaza.

The complaint notes that the arch would block the view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House, “which were designed to face each other to represent national reunification after the Civil War”.

“This action is about protecting sacred spaces that belong to the American people,” the Kennedys said in their statement, noting that their uncles, president John F Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy, and their parents Robert and Ethel Kennedy, are buried at Arlington national cemetery.

“We believe Donald Trump has violated the laws and procedures established by Congress to protect this most sacred national memorial.”

The family’s lawsuit argues that the National Park Service and the US interior department authorized construction of the arch without the required congressional approval. It asks the court to set aside the authorization and block construction of the arch.

The arch is one of several projects around Washington that Trump has undertaken as he remakes the city, from renovating one of its storied public golf courses to threatening to demolish the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Those projects could soon face greater scrutiny after Democrats gained control of Congress.