Federal judge temporarily blocks construction of Trump’s 250-foot arch

Litigation over the project heated up after the government told the court in a filing last month that work could begin as early as this week.

A federal district judge on Thursday night temporarily blocked construction of a 250-foot arch President Trump plans to build near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, in the latest legal setback for one of his projects in the nation’s capital.

Anti-arch demonstrators protesting at Memorial Circle on Thursday.

Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the administration from taking any steps over the next two weeks to start work. The order gives Chutkan more time to consider whether to block construction for the duration of litigation over the project.

The ruling came shortly after the National Capital Planning Commission, made up of mostly Trump appointees, approved plans for the project. The government had wanted to start construction on the arch immediately after the panel gave its approval.

Three veterans and an architectural historian were first to sue the Trump administration over the project in February. They argue the president doesn’t have the authority to plow ahead without Congress’s approval, which is required by law when building structures or new monuments on federal public land in the nation’s capital.

The District of Columbia and Virginia jumped into the fight last weekend with another lawsuit trying to stop construction. Chutkan combined the cases and granted their request for an initial order to temporarily halt work.

Write to Lydia Wheeler at lydia.wheeler@wsj.com