Sen. Duckworth slams Trump’s “foolhardy plan” to make triumphal arch a military complex

September 25, 2026 / 7:00 AM EDT / CBS News

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is demanding the Pentagon and Federal Aviation Administration reject President Trump's call to convert plans for a massive triumphal arch into a "top grade Military Complex" equipped with snipers and with the capability to store, launch and land drones while in the flight path of Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport.

"The FAA and DoD must reject this foolhardy plan and instead focus on increasing the safety of the airspace," Duckworth, who lost both legs while serving in the Iraq War, wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

The FAA determined last week that the 250-foot arch, which is being constructed near Arlington National Cemetery, poses no hazard to flights coming into and departing from Reagan Airport.

The letter was exclusively obtained by CBS News. She called Mr. Trump's announcement, made in a Truth Social post over the weekend, "bizarre, unhinged early morning social media rants."

In the letter sent Friday, Duckworth, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, took Trump administration officials to task for "wasting time, energy and taxpayer dollars on…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/