Congressional Democrats warned the Trump administration on Monday that officials could face fines or even criminal prosecution if they push forward with building the president’s 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington without the approval of Congress.
In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and two National Park Service officials, Democrats who oversee national resources on Capitol Hill said that the administration would be breaking at least three laws by moving ahead with the project, and that Trump officials could be personally penalized.
“Appropriated funds may be applied only to the objects for which Congress appropriated them,” the letter says, warning that officials who use unauthorized funds could be subject to “suspension without pay, removal from office and, for knowing and willful violations, criminal fines and imprisonment.”
The letter was signed by Senator Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and Representative Jared Huffman of California, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, among others.
The letter adds that the administration would also be violating the Commemorative Works Act, which governs monuments on federal land in Washington; a 1912 law that says buildings or structures “shall not be erected” on federal land in the capital “without express authority of Congress”; and the Height of Buildings Act, which generally does not allow buildings that are more than 160 feet tall in Washington.
“This project is stone-cold illegal,” Mr. King said in an interview. “It is one of the clearest legal cases I’ve seen in more than 50 years of being a lawyer.”
A group of Vietnam War veterans has sued to stop the project, citing the lack of congressional approval and arguing that the arch would obstruct the view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump administration officials have argued that the Height of Buildings Act does not apply to the arch. They claim congressional actions in the 1920s connected to the design of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, near which the arch would sit, already give the administration the legal right to build.
Mr. Huffman referred to the administration’s argument that Mr. Trump has approval to build based on a 1920s congressional action “laughable.”
“It is so specious on its face,” he said. “That it is going to get nowhere in court.”
Mr. Huffman said the courts were one way to try to stop the project, but he added that if Democrats were to take control of the House after the midterm elections, they would also be able to conduct greater oversight.
“We’re putting people on notice, both members of this administration and anyone who might be following their directives, which we think are patently illegal,” he said. “They could be held personally liable.”
Katie Martin, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, argued that the administration was merely carrying out the longstanding wishes of Congress by building the arch.
Ms. Martin pointed to the Senate’s McMillan Commission, which in 1902 recommended that “a concourse suited to memorial treatment be established” on the western end of the Memorial Bridge. She also cited the 1924 congressional Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, which called for “a plaza with fitting architectural adornment in a measure supplemental to the Lincoln Memorial across the river.”
“Great nations build beautiful structures and works of art that cultivate national pride and love of country,” Ms. Martin said in a statement. “In this tradition, Secretary Burgum is thrilled to champion the United States Triumphal Arch, which will be a project that all Americans can be proud of.”
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