Trump Administration Urges High Court to Resume Big Bend Wall Work
WHO:
Alternet - Two newly appointed alternate commissioners are military veterans; Tammy Stidham, a senior National Park Service official, was among those replaced and had served for several years as the Interior secretary’s alternate commissioner.
ABC News Politics - The Trump administration is seeking permission from the Supreme Court to resume border-wall construction.
CBS News Politics - The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to lift the injunction.
WHAT:
Alternet - The proposed triumphal arch would be 250 feet tall, with a 55-foot-wide opening; its monument would be 166 feet wide and include an observation deck, six stairways and five elevators.
Alternet - The proposed design includes two gilded eagles, a gilded winged figure holding a torch, a surrounding plaza, granite pavers, landscaping, a stone seat wall, and illuminated pedestrian crosswalks.
Alternet - The commission has 12 members, including the heads of the Pentagon, the Department and the General Services Administration, who typically send deputies as alternate commissioners.
Alternet - Preliminary plans for the arch were approved in July.
ABC News Politics - The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow it to resume building a border wall.
CBS News Politics - The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to lift a lower-court injunction that temporarily blocked the Trump administration from building a border wall and related infrastructure.
WHERE:
Alternet - The arch is proposed near Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.
ABC News Politics - The proposed border wall is in Texas’s Big Bend region.
CBS News Politics - The proposed border wall and related infrastructure are in the Big Bend Sector.
WHEN:
Alternet - Final site and building approval is scheduled for the upcoming Nov. 5 meeting.
WHY:
Alternet - Opponents, including veterans groups, local advocacy organizations and historic preservationists, have urged Trump to reduce the arch’s planned height or choose another site.
CBS News Politics - The request seeks to remove a lower-court injunction that temporarily blocked construction.
HOW:
Alternet - Commission chair Mark Paoletta said he plans to approve the arch. He wrote on X: “The empty Memorial Traffic Circle built in 1940 does not complete the grand design authorized and envisioned by the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission and by Congress as enacted in the 1925 law,” and called it “a disgrace to our nation and her noble veterans.”
ABC News Politics - The administration is seeking relief from the Supreme Court to resume construction.
CBS News Politics - The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to lift the lower-court injunction.
(UPDATED October 22, 2026 00:09 UTC)
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to lift an injunction blocking construction of a border wall and related infrastructure in Texas’s Big Bend region. The Justice Department says removing the lower-court order would allow work to resume. Separately, a federal commission is considering a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial. The design calls for a 250-foot structure, with a broad opening, an observation deck, and gilded sculptures. Preliminary plans were approved in July, and final site and building approval is scheduled for the upcoming Nov. 5 meeting. Commission chair Mark Paoletta says he plans to approve the project, while veterans groups, local advocates, and preservationists have urged Trump to reduce its height or choose another location. Two newly appointed alternate commissioners are military veterans; Tammy Stidham, a senior National Park Service official, was among those replaced.
--
(UPDATED October 21, 2026 23:24 UTC)
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to let it resume construction of a border wall in Texas’s Big Bend region. The Justice Department’s request seeks to lift a lower-court injunction that temporarily blocked the work. The proposed project includes both the wall and related infrastructure in the Big Bend Sector. The administration is seeking relief directly from the Supreme Court, arguing that the injunction must be removed before construction can proceed. The request places the dispute over the border project before the nation’s highest court. For now, the lower-court order remains a barrier to building in the region. The Supreme Court is being asked to clear the way for the administration to move forward.