Members of America’s most famous political dynasty are going to court to stop one of President Donald Trump’s pet projects.
Nine members of the Kennedy family moved Tuesday to join an ongoing lawsuit in Washington aimed at blocking Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch, arguing the gold-topped structure would loom over their relatives’ graves and ruin a deliberately designed view from President John F. Kennedy’s eternal flame, according to reporting by The New York Times.
The family’s legal papers contend the monument would block “a line of sight that was designed to represent the unification of the nation following the Civil War and that has existed for nearly a century,” a sightline the plaintiffs say is so central to the memorial that obstructing it amounts to “destroying an essential element of the gravesite’s design.”
They also warned the arch “will permanently cast a shadow over plaintiffs’ parents’ graves and the graves of servicemen and -women who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.”
The plaintiffs are the children and grandchildren of the late Sens. Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, the slain president’s younger brothers, who are both buried near him.
Documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy and her brother Maxwell Kennedy, two of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s children, blasted the project in a joint statement.
“A towering arch casting shadows across the graves of our father, mother and uncles, as well as the graves of so many who have served our country, would also cast a shadow over our democratic principles, undermining the safeguards established by our elected representatives to protect this hallowed ground for generations to come,” they said.
The challenge lands just days after the project’s fortunes swung sharply. The National Capital Planning Commission, which is run by Trump allies, signed off on the arch last Thursday, only for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to freeze construction for two weeks almost immediately. In her 33-page ruling, Chutkan found the project needed Congress’ blessing and warned it could saddle Virginia and the District of Columbia with costs while snarling traffic around Arlington National Cemetery.
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