Trump plans to build massive arch without Congress' approval using a century-old loophole

The Trump administration has no plans to seek congressional approval for President Donald Trump's proposed 250-foot arch near the Lincoln Memorial and is instead relying on a 100-year-old authorization for a completely different project that was never built, according to a report.

Administration officials argue that Congress effectively pre-approved the arch when lawmakers ratified a 1925 report by the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, which called for two 166-foot columns on Columbia Island, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Those columns were never constructed. Trump's arch would use the same 166-foot base but add another 84 feet of pedestal and statuary to reach 250 feet total.

Legal experts expressed skepticism.

"The notion Congress a century ago authorized construction of this 250-foot arch in Memorial Circle is absurd," said Wendy Liu, a lawyer at Public Citizen Litigation Group, which is representing military veterans and an architectural historian suing to halt the project. The 1925 authorization was "for a now-defunct commission to design and construct Arlington Memorial Bridge, which was completed a century ago, pursuant to a 10-year construction and funding schedule," Liu added. "It did not authorize this arch."

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, called the legal argument "tortured" and "laughable," comparing it to the administration's pattern of bypassing Congress on the White House ballroom and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation.

A fine arts commission stacked with Trump allies is scheduled to review a revised arch proposal on Thursday. The administration has removed four golden lions from the original design, but the arch remains 250 feet tall, taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.