Reported by Al Jazeera
The monument has sparked fierce opposition from local governments fearing disruption to traffic and historic views.
The District of Columbia (DC) and the state of Virginia have filed a joint lawsuit to halt the construction of a large triumphal arch sought by United States President Donald Trump.
Filed on Saturday, the lawsuit denounces the project as “flagrantly unlawful” and “legally indefensible”.
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It calls on the federal court system to bar construction before it starts.
Otherwise, the lawsuit warns, Trump could claim that pausing construction already under way would pose a national security risk, as he has done with other controversial projects in the past.
“This is not the first time that Defendants have rushed to dramatically remake the District too quickly for courts to intervene,” the lawsuit reads. “This Court should not allow this effort to escape judicial scrutiny.”
Saturday’s complaint brings the total number of lawsuits against the arch to three.
Trump has championed the prospect of building a triumphal arch, similar to the Arc de Triomphe built in Paris during Napoleonic times.
Trump’s arch, however, is designed to stand 30 metres (100 feet) taller than the Statue of Liberty. It would tower from the Memorial Circle in Washington, DC, at 76 metres (250ft).
That colossal scale has prompted outrage, particularly from veterans’ groups who fear the arch would block views of Arlington National Cemetery, a hallowed military grave site.
White House officials maintain that ground could be broken as early as next week, on or around November 5.
On Friday, the administration unveiled a 106-page proposal for the arch to be a 12-storey megastructure, featuring a winged bronze statue of Lady Liberty lifting an eternal flame.
The arch would include two mezzanines and an observation deck with panoramic east-west views, as well as programme spaces, offices and a “fire command centre”.
Trump has previously said the arch would double as a military hub with snipers and drone capabilities.
Construction on the arch would also result in significant traffic changes in the area, including rerouting traffic to nearby roads.
In Saturday’s lawsuit, Attorneys General Brian Schwalb of Washington, DC,…