{"id":1796,"date":"2026-06-19T15:40:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796"},"modified":"2026-06-19T15:40:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:40:26","slug":"trump-goons-scramble-to-find-fix-for-colossal-vanity-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796","title":{"rendered":"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Donald Trump\u2019s Interior Department is scrambling to come up with a reason why his proposed \u201ctriumphal arch\u201d shouldn\u2019t have to respect a federal law limiting the height of most buildings in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump, 80, Retreats Into Insane AI Fantasy After Reflecting Pool Fiasco<\/a><\/p>\n

Critics of the president\u2019s 250-foot-tall vanity project have argued that it runs afoul of the (HBA), which limits most building heights in Washington, D.C., to the width of their street plus 20 feet, with a maximum height of 130 feet. <\/p>\n

\n

The law was designed to address fire safety and preserve the city\u2019s low-slung neoclassical character. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But in a new, unsigned memo published by , the Department of the Interior has argued that \u201cfederal buildings are not subject to the HBA,\u201d despite more than a century of interpretation to the contrary. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe HBA is just a local zoning ordinance and does not apply to the United States,\u201d the memo claims. <\/p>\n

The law, however, was passed by Congress and explicitly states, \u201cNo building shall be erected, altered, or raised in any manner as to exceed the height of 130 feet,\u201d without providing an express exception for federal construction. <\/p>\n

The main exception is that buildings constructed along Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol building\u2014where most of the lots are owned by the federal government\u2014can be 160 feet tall.<\/p>\n

The Interior Department\u2019s memo nevertheless argues that the HBA is \u201csimilar\u201d to a local zoning regulation, and that since the federal government is generally immune from local zoning laws, it doesn\u2019t need to follow the HBA either. <\/p>\n

As \u201cevidence,\u201d it pointed to the fact that the HBA was also codified in Washington, D.C.\u2019s local zoning laws in 1929. <\/p>\n

Congressional Democrats, however, have pointed out that the HBA is a federal law that exists independently of the local zoning regulations, meaning only an act of Congress can reverse it. <\/p>\n

Read more Fuming Trump, 80, Melts Down as His Surrender Unravels<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the fact that the city of Washington, D.C., couldn\u2019t change the HBA even if it wanted to, as The New York Times pointed out during a debate about whether the height restrictions should be lifted. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s hand-picked chair of the National Capital Planning Commission\u2014which must sign off on the arch\u2014has nevertheless been trying to argue that the HBA shouldn\u2019t apply, the Post reported. <\/p>\n

Will Scharf asked the Interior Department to draft a memo confirming as much, even though the commission\u2019s own website says the HBA is \u201cimplemented through the District\u2019s Zoning Regulations for private property and through NCPC\u2019s review of development proposals on federal property.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a report issued , career staff on the commission noted that the NCPC has \u201cconsistently taken the position\u201d that the HBA applies to federal projects, \u201creserving Washington\u2019s picturesque, horizontal character.\u201d <\/p>\n

The arch itself would be 166 feet tall and topped with almost another 100 feet of \u201cgilded wing statuary,\u201d according to the report. <\/p>\n

The president has said he has no plans to seek approval from Congress, which has not authorized the project. <\/p>\n

The planning commission, which Trump has packed with loyalists, is set to review the arch at its July 9 meeting. <\/p>\n

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Interior Department for comment. <\/p>\n

\n

The arch is deeply unpopular with Americans, who oppose the project by more than 2-to-1. A group of veterans has also sued to block the arch\u2019s construction, arguing that the structure would block \u201chistorically significant reciprocal views\u201d of Arlington National Cemetery and Memorial Bridge. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump Humiliated by Devastating Fox News Poll<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s Interior Department is scrambling to come up with a reason why his proposed \u201ctriumphal arch\u201d shouldn\u2019t have to respect a federal law limiting the height of most buildings in Washington, D.C. Read more Trump, 80, Retreats Into Insane AI Fantasy After Reflecting Pool Fiasco Critics of the president\u2019s 250-foot-tall vanity project have argued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project - Nationwide Inter State Movers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project - Nationwide Inter State Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Donald Trump\u2019s Interior Department is scrambling to come up with a reason why his proposed \u201ctriumphal arch\u201d shouldn\u2019t have to respect a federal law limiting the height of most buildings in Washington, D.C. Read more Trump, 80, Retreats Into Insane AI Fantasy After Reflecting Pool Fiasco Critics of the president\u2019s 250-foot-tall vanity project have argued […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nationwide Inter State Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T15:40:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/38cc622be76d7ce8c5366fe18559460a\"},\"headline\":\"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T15:40:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796\"},\"wordCount\":610,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796\",\"name\":\"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project - Nationwide Inter State Movers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T15:40:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/38cc622be76d7ce8c5366fe18559460a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?p=1796#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nationwide Inter State Movers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/38cc622be76d7ce8c5366fe18559460a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project - Nationwide Inter State Movers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project - Nationwide Inter State Movers","og_description":"Donald Trump\u2019s Interior Department is scrambling to come up with a reason why his proposed \u201ctriumphal arch\u201d shouldn\u2019t have to respect a federal law limiting the height of most buildings in Washington, D.C. Read more Trump, 80, Retreats Into Insane AI Fantasy After Reflecting Pool Fiasco Critics of the president\u2019s 250-foot-tall vanity project have argued […]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796","og_site_name":"Nationwide Inter State Movers","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T15:40:26+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/38cc622be76d7ce8c5366fe18559460a"},"headline":"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project","datePublished":"2026-06-19T15:40:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796"},"wordCount":610,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796","url":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796","name":"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project - Nationwide Inter State Movers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-19T15:40:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/38cc622be76d7ce8c5366fe18559460a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/68d1d455df26d3bd009ec516ba2af554-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?p=1796#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump Goons Scramble to Find Fix for Colossal Vanity Project"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/","name":"Nationwide Inter State Movers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/38cc622be76d7ce8c5366fe18559460a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationwideinterstatemovers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}