FAA flags Independence Arch, veterans sue over missing congressional vote

Congress enacted the Commemorative Works Act on November 14, 1986, after the number of Washington monuments had grown to 110 and Congress faced roughly 15 new memorial proposals each session. The law established a mandatory multi-step process: Congress must first pass a specific authorization bill naming a sponsor, then two design review bodies (the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts) must approve the design, and construction must begin within seven years or the authorization lapses. The statute covers all NPS-administered and GSA-administered land in the Washington, D.C., area. Memorial Circle, where the arch would stand, falls within Area I, the zone with the strictest congressional scrutiny requirements.

As of June 2026, Trump has not obtained a congressional authorization vote. The Justice Department argues a 1924 federal commission report and a 1925 congressional ratification of that report cover the arch. Plaintiffs represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group counter that the commission dissolved decades ago and no live authorization exists.

Three Vietnam War veterans, Michael Lemmon, Shaun Byrnes, and Jon Gundersen, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on February 21, 2026. All three served as U.S. diplomats after military service and regularly visit Memorial Circle. Their complaint argues the arch violates the Commemorative Works Act and Title 40 of the U.S. Code by proceeding without congressional authorization.

The veterans describe Memorial Circle as a historically designed viewshed, with the alignment between Arlington House and the Lincoln Memorial intentionally created to evoke post-Civil War national reconciliation. Their suit calls the arch a vanity project that would dishonor their military service by replacing a solemn ceremonial sightline with a monument to a living president. House Democrats filed a supporting amicus brief, arguing Trump violated federal law by advancing the project through executive-controlled panels without a congressional vote.

Memorial Circle's commemorative history goes back to 1924, when a federal commission envisioned a monumental gateway with 166-foot columns on Columbia Island. Congress ratified that report in 1925. But the Capper-Cramton Act of 1930 cut most of the planned statuary, and in 1931, the Department of Commerce warned that 166-foot columns would interfere with nearby airfields. President Hoover ordered them removed from the plans. The Arlington Memorial Bridge opened in 1932 without the monumental gateway.

The DOJ now argues the unbuilt 1924 vision, and Congress's 1925 ratification of it, authorize the Independence Arch nearly a century later. Legal analysts say this argument is weak because the commission that produced the 1924 report no longer exists and the 1925 ratification applied to a different, smaller structure that was ultimately abandoned.

The Commission of Fine Arts, which Trump filled with seven appointees, voted on April 16, 2026 to advance the project and gave final concept approval on May 21, 2026. The National Capital Planning Commission voted on June 4, 2026 to advance a modified design, dropping four lions originally planned for the base, but stopped short of final approval and required additional analysis of the structure's impact on flight paths and the historic landscape.

Critics noted both commissions are stacked with Trump administration appointees, making their approvals structurally unable to substitute for the genuinely independent congressional authorization the statute requires. The NCPC, unlike independent regulatory agencies with for-cause removal protections, has no structural independence from presidential control.

The FAA released a limited feasibility review concluding the arch would have no significant adverse effect on airspace. But the agency also found that the structure's 250-foot height, at roughly 3,000 feet from Reagan National Airport's main approach and departure corridor, triggers mandatory red obstruction lighting under 14 CFR Part 77 standards.

The FAA's June 10, 2026 determination called that limited review a starting point, not a final clearance. A full aeronautical study coordinated with the National Park Service is the next required step before the FAA can issue a formal determination. The study will assess whether instrument approach procedures at Reagan National need to be modified, whether radar coverage is affected, and what the final obstruction lighting configuration would look like. Reagan National handles more than 23 million passengers a year and is among the most congested approach corridors in the country.

The National Park Service opened a 10-day public comment period on June 5, 2026, running through June 15, as part of its Section 106 review under the National Historic Preservation Act. NPS prepared an Assessment of Effects Report examining how the arch and related improvements would affect historic properties in the project area.

The NPS is also a required coordination partner in the FAA aeronautical study because it manages Memorial Circle and the surrounding National Mall and Memorial Parks. Its Section 106 role gives it formal standing to object if the arch is incompatible with the historic landscape, and its coordination role in the FAA study means it can document any impact on the site's commemorative character. Citizens could submit comments to ncr_planning@nps.gov through June 15.

Trump announced the Independence Arch project in October 2025 to coincide with the United States' 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026. At 250 feet, the structure would stand more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial at 99 feet and would require approximately 20-hour daily construction shifts for two to three years, according to planning documents CBS News reviewed.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a separate federal challenge over Trump administration renovation plans for the National Mall's Reflecting Pool, using the same legal argument: major changes to federally managed Washington landmarks require statutory authorization Congress hasn't provided. Legal analysts say the two cases together test whether a president can treat executive-controlled commission approvals as a substitute for the congressional vote statutes require.

A 2023 Congressional Research Service report tracked every commemorative work authorized under the Commemorative Works Act since 1986. Every successfully built monument on that list began with a specific Act of Congress. The World War II Memorial, which faced litigation over its placement between the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument, had received congressional authorization in 1994 under P.L. 103-32 before courts heard any challenge to its design. Courts upheld that authorization and found the site selection permissible, establishing that the Act is judicially enforceable.

The Independence Arch has no equivalent authorization on the list. Courts must now decide whether the 1925 ratification of a long-dissolved commission's report qualifies, or whether the project requires a new authorization vote.