Lemmon v. Trump (D.D.C.)

Case Overview

Four Washington-area residents, including two Vietnam veterans and a longtime architectural historian, sued to stop the Trump administration from building a monumental arch on Memorial Circle near the Arlington Memorial Bridge. In their complaint, filed February 19, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs say the planned arch would rise to roughly twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial, about the size of a twenty-five-story building, and would sit directly on the axis between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. That sight line was designed to represent the reunification of the country after the Civil War and has been preserved for nearly a century.

The plaintiffs argue that Congress, not the President, controls whether commemorative works may be built in the capital. They point to the Commemorative Works Act and to 40 U.S.C. section 8106, which bars erecting any building or structure on federal park or public grounds in the District of Columbia without express authority from Congress, along with review requirements involving the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. According to the complaint, the administration planned to complete the arch before July 4, 2026 without obtaining congressional approval or completing those procedures. The plaintiffs contend that building it anyway would be ultra vires and would violate the President's duty under the Take Care Clause to faithfully execute the law. They ask the court to declare the project unlawful and to enjoin construction unless and until every statutory prerequisite, including congressional approval, is satisfied.

The case is before Judge Tanya Chutkan. The defendants are President Trump, Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley, the Executive Office of the President, and the National Park Service.