Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) has formally asked the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to deny President Trump's request to transform his planned triumphal arch in Washington into a military installation capable of launching drones and housing snipers. In a letter sent Friday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, Duckworth called the proposal “foolhardy” and urged both agencies to prioritize aviation safety over what she described as a politically motivated project.
The arch, a 250-foot structure slated for Memorial Circle between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, was initially promoted by the administration as a tribute to the nation’s 250th anniversary and a tourist draw. But Trump announced on Truth Social over the weekend that the monument would also “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas,” along with “large quantities” of ammunition. The announcement caught many in Washington off guard, as it marked a significant shift from the project’s original framing.
Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, argued that the plan is “particularly outrageous” given what she called a “joint failure” by the FAA and Pentagon to implement corrective actions recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after the January 2025 midair collision near Reagan National Airport. That crash, which killed 67 people, was the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 2001.
The NTSB issued 52 safety recommendations following the collision—35 directed at the FAA and 13 at the Pentagon. To date, the FAA has fully addressed only three, and the NTSB earlier this month deemed responses to 11 others unacceptable. All recommendations aimed at the Pentagon remain unresolved, and NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy warned in July that the continued inaction poses a “continued and unacceptable risk” to public safety.
In her letter, Duckworth did not mince words. “The Trump administration’s failure to faithfully and urgently implement NTSB’s recommendations is compounded by FAA and DoD wasting finite time and attention to stroke President Trump’s fragile ego by focusing efforts on approvals for the construction of his pathetic arch,” she wrote. She added that the plan “is a disservice to the flying public and dishonors the legacy of the lives tragically lost in the DCA midair collision.”
The FAA has spent months assessing whether the arch, which would sit directly in the landing path for Reagan National Airport, poses a hazard to flights. The agency released its safety evaluation on Friday, concluding that the structure would not threaten airspace operations. However, the review did not account for the possibility of military drones operating from the site, a glaring omission that Duckworth highlighted.
“The American people cannot afford to stand witness to Trump’s risky plan to place a 250-foot structure along a busy approach path, especially if he follows through on plans to station snipers on the arch and fly drones in this already congested airspace,” she said.
Duckworth has also posed a series of pointed questions to both agencies. She asked whether the FAA considered the arch’s potential military use during its assessment, and if not, whether the agency would reopen the study before granting final approval. She also queried Bedford about any drone operation requests near Memorial Circle and pressed Hegseth on which military entity, if any, had requested the arch be repurposed as a military complex. She has requested responses by October 5.
Duckworth is not alone in raising alarms. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery and the airport, called the idea of a drone launch site in Memorial Circle “a stupid, dangerous, and unworkable idea.” The controversy adds another layer of tension to the administration’s push for the arch, which has already drawn scrutiny over its location and design.
As the debate unfolds, aviation safety advocates and lawmakers are watching closely to see whether the FAA and Pentagon will bow to political pressure or heed the technical concerns. For Duckworth, the stakes are clear: “The safety of the flying public must come first.”
