The Kennedy dynasty is seeking to block Trump’s arch from obscuring the JFK Eternal Flame and the family’s gravesites.
Members of the Kennedy family have filed a legal motion to halt construction of President Donald Trump’s 76-metre (250ft) “triumphal arch” in Washington, DC, arguing that the monument would encroach upon the graves of the family’s most prominent forebears.
On Tuesday, nine plaintiffs—the children and grandchildren of former Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy—filed motions to intervene and accompanying complaints in two existing federal lawsuits aimed at blocking the arch’s construction.
The project would be situated near the final resting places of the late senators, who are buried alongside their brother, former President John F. Kennedy, and the Eternal Flame commemorating him at Arlington National Cemetery.
The plaintiffs contend that the proposed arch would “fundamentally alter the experience of visiting the gravesites,” a location that draws millions of visitors each year.
The intervention motion was submitted by veteran Washington attorney Norm Eisen and the Democracy Defenders Fund, a centre-left legal advocacy group.
It argues that the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior authorized the granite, gold-ornamented structure—dubbed the “Arc de Trump” by critics—without the congressional approval required by law.
The plaintiffs further argue that the megastructure would destroy the intentionally designed, century-old sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House across the Memorial Bridge.
The high-profile intervention expands an already extensive roster of plaintiffs challenging the polarising monument, including Vietnam War veterans, a historian, and the governments of the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Arlington County.
Last week, District Judge Tanya Chutkan prohibited the Trump administration from breaking ground on the structure for another 14 days following the series of lawsuits.
Lawyers for the relatives wrote on Tuesday that building the arch would be a “permanent denigration” of the gravesites and that the Kennedy descendants “would never again be able to appreciate both sites as they always have before, and as the Kennedy family always intended.”
The project forms part of the president’s wider effort to remodel much of Washington, DC, alongside a historic golf course renovation and threats to demolish the Kennedy Center.
With Democrats seizing control of Congress in last week’s midterm elections, the proposed overhauls may face heightened scrutiny.
Speaking on behalf of the Kennedy family, Rory and Maxwell Kennedy, children of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, said the action concerns “protecting sacred spaces that belong to the American people.” They added that several members of their slain family are “among the more than 400,000 veterans and family members buried or honored on this hallowed ground.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Trump appointee who is estranged from much of his family, did not join the litigation.