Last week the project received approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
However, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a 14‑day suspension on any construction work while the legal dispute continues.
The Kennedy family, joining the states of Virginia and the District of Columbia, filed a joint complaint challenging the arch, claiming it would impair historically significant sightlines at the cemetery’s entrance.
The plaintiffs represent seven children of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, their grandson Joe Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy’s son Edward Kennedy Jr.
The suit purposefully excludes former Health and Human Services Administrator Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who chairs the department.
In addition, the family’s motion seeks to intervene in two parallel actions by environmental and veterans’ groups that also target the monument.
The plaintiffs contend that the arch would constitute a permanent denigration of the burial grounds and that the Kennedy heirs would never again experience both sites as they have ever done.