Kennedy family members ask federal judge to halt Trump’s planned Arlington memorial arch
A detail photo of the proposed "Independence Arch," Tuesday, October 7, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
WASHINGTON - Nine members of the Kennedy family asked a federal judge Tuesday to halt President Donald Trump’s planned memorial arch, saying the 250-foot monument would cast a shadow over relatives' burial plots at Arlington National Cemetery.
The monument's shadow would "fundamentally alter the experience of visiting the gravesites," according to court filings submitted by the relatives. They moved to intervene in a pair of pending lawsuits aimed at stopping the arch's construction.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order last week barring the Trump administration from beginning site work for 14 days.
The nine plaintiffs represent descendants of Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, both former U.S. senators and brothers of assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Their plots are near the eternal flame marking JFK’s resting place.
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Building the structure would cause a "permanent denigration" of the burial grounds, leaving relatives unable to "appreciate both sites as they always have before, and as the Kennedy family always intended," attorneys for the family wrote. Prominent Washington attorney Norm Eisen and the Democracy Defenders Fund represent the group.
"It is unfortunate to see that some members of the Kennedy family have joined the litigation against the Arch as the project is intended to honor our heroes who rest in Arlington Cemetery," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said. "The judiciary should not be abused to politicize a structure designed to unite our nation."
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who remains estranged from several family members, did not join the legal challenge against Trump.
The monument represents one of multiple capital-area initiatives launched by the president to reshape the nation’s capital, alongside renovating the East Potomac Golf Links and proposing the demolition of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Those efforts face oversight following Democratic victories in the midterm elections.
The administration launched a website last week featuring designs for the monument, which planners envision as a gold-accented, gray granite structure positioned between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting.