Virginia and D.C. sue to stop proposed Trump arch

Virginia and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in federal court Saturday in a last-ditch effort to stop the construction of the triumphal arch planned for Memorial Circle in Washington.

The Trump administration has said it plans to begin construction of the arch next week, on Nov. 5.

“The construction of the Arch will inflict immediate and irreparable harm on the District and Virginia,” Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote in the lawsuit. “The Arch is slated to be built on a busy traffic circle that abuts the border between the jurisdictions, at the center of a historic viewshed, in a river whose environment the District has a statutory responsibility to protect.”

“Both the construction of the Arch and the completed monument will disrupt the operations of both jurisdictions, impair their ability to carry out their responsibilities under federal and local law, and require the expenditure of substantial resources to mitigate and address those impacts,” they added.

The attorneys general wrote that their request to block construction is urgent.

“It is entirely foreseeable that, once construction begins, Defendants will argue, as they have done in other cases, that an order halting construction would…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business