Nine members of the Kennedy political dynasty asked a judge Tuesday to halt President Trump’s plan to construct a 250-foot (76-meter) memorial arch, arguing that the towering structure would cast a shadow over their relatives’ graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
The shadow would “fundamentally alter the experience of visiting the gravesites,” the family members said.
They filed a motion to intervene in two existing lawsuits challenging the proposed construction.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan last week barred the Trump administration from breaking ground on the arch for 14 days.
The nine Kennedy relatives are children and grandchildren of Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, the brothers of assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Both men served in the US Senate.
Robert and Edward Kennedy are buried near the eternal flame marking JFK’s gravesite, alongside two other memorials that attract millions of visitors to Arlington National Cemetery each year.
Constructing the arch would amount to a “permanent denigration” of the gravesites, the relatives’ lawyers wrote. They argued 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.”
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The family members are represented by veteran Washington attorney Norm Eisen and the Democracy Defenders Fund.
“It is unfortunate to see that some members of the Kennedy family have joined the litigation against the Arch as the project is intended to honor our heroes who rest in Arlington Cemetery,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said.
“The judiciary should not be abused to politicize a structure designed to unite our nation.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s health and human services secretary, did not join the lawsuit. He has a fractured relationship with many of his relatives.
The arch is one of several Washington projects pursued by the Republican president as he reshapes the capital to suit his vision. Other efforts have included renovations to one of the city’s historic public golf courses and a threat to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Those initiatives could soon face heightened scrutiny after Democrats took control of Congress in the midterm elections.
The White House unveiled a polished new website last week promoting the arch, which is planned as a mass of gold ornamentation and stately gray granite positioned between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
