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Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) urged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday to reject the White House’s plans to erect a triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial.
The ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation called the arch President Trump’s “newest vanity project” in her letter to the federal agency and expressed concerns that it could pose a risk to commercial flights.
“President Trump choosing to force the FAA to invest limited staff and resources into a distracting review of his gaudy and disgraceful arch is merely the latest example of Trump putting his pet projects first, while neglecting America’s needs,” the senator wrote.
The 259-foot structure is modeled after the iconic Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Its construction could last 20 hours a day for a period of two to three years and require cranes that reach 300 feet or higher, according to an estimate from the National Park Service.
A group of six lawmakers expressed their opposition to the structure in a June letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the acting director of the National Park Service, arguing that the administration has “no power to build” the arch without congressional approval.
The legislators argued that the structure’s proposed height would violate the Height of Buildings Act and the Commemorative Works Act, which applies to construction projects on federal land.
The FAA said after a preliminary review last week that the arch would need red safety lights, in line with requirements for buildings above 200 feet in close proximity to airports. Otherwise, the agency said it did not find evidence that the arch would have an “adverse” impact on DCA’s airspace.
The next steps in this review process include a full aeronautical study conducted by the FAA in coordination with the National Park Service, the FAA confirmed to The Hill on Thursday.
An FAA spokesperson said the agency will respond to Duckworth’s letter directly.
The Washington Monument, which is 555-feet tall, has red safety warning lights to alert pilots flying at night of the structure.
Duckworth noted additional security concerns in the National Capitol Region (NCR) airspace, which includes a 15-mile radius from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
“The NCR is an extremely challenging airspace because of complicated flight paths, restricted airspace and complex civil-military operations,” she wrote.
“Even minor disruptions can have cascading, fatal effects,” she continued, citing the tragic collision last year between an American Airlines passenger plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, which left 67 people dead.
“The DCA midair collision underscores the consequences of inadequate coordination and the need for extreme caution when evaluating any new obstruction in this environment,” the senator wrote.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
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