D.C. Official to Trump Admin: Scrap Arch, Build 1925 Columns

A District of Columbia preservation official urged the Trump administration to scrap the planned 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and instead build the two slender columns envisioned in a 1925 congressional plan.

The arch would "effectively replace much of the important view with a frame" between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington, according to the D.C. Historic Preservation Office.

The Committee of 100 on the Federal City and residents from every state and most U.S. territories have expressed opposition to the arch, with 93% of D.C. resident comments opposing the project.

Andrew Lewis, an official in D.C.'s Historic Preservation Office, made the case for the columns in a Wednesday letter first reported by The Washington Post. The arch would "effectively replace much of the important view with a frame" between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington, Lewis said.

Trump has cited the 1925 congressional plan , which authorized two 166-foot columns symbolizing post-Reconstruction reunification of North and South, as his legal authority for the 250-foot arch.

Lewis countered that the arch would break the historic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House, the former home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the columns were designed to preserve.

The Committee of 100 on the Federal City, a nonprofit preservation group, made a parallel argument in its own letter Wednesday, accusing the National Park Service of failing to weigh alternative sites and designs.

An Interior Department spokesperson defended the process, telling The Washington Sun the agency has followed all laws and logged more than 100,000 public comments .

"To infer this process is unlawful shows a lack of understanding of the facts," the spokesperson said.

A D.C. review cited in the letter found opposition from residents of every state and most U.S. territories, with 93% of the roughly 11,000 D.C. resident comments opposing the arch.

The Trump-appointed U.S. Commission of Fine Arts granted final approval in May, and the National Capital Planning Commission voted for preliminary approval in July.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced excavation work this month, though the administration said it was for information gathering, not construction, with the planning commission's final vote still pending.