Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) on Friday called on the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to block President Trump's proposal to transform his planned triumphal arch in Washington into a military installation capable of launching drones and housing snipers, arguing the move would endanger the capital's already busy airspace.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, Duckworth urged both agencies to "reject this foolhardy plan and instead focus on increasing the safety of the airspace." The request comes just days after Trump announced on Truth Social that the 250-foot arch—to be built between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial—would "house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas," as well as store "large quantities" of ammunition.
The revelation was a sharp departure from the administration's earlier framing of the structure as a tourist attraction commemorating the nation's 250th anniversary. Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, called the change "particularly outrageous" given what she described as a "joint failure" by the FAA and Pentagon to implement corrective actions recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after the deadly January 2025 midair collision near Reagan National Airport.
That crash, which killed 67 people when an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided, prompted the NTSB to issue 52 safety recommendations—35 to the FAA and 13 to the Pentagon. To date, the FAA has fully addressed only three of those recommendations, and the NTSB earlier this month deemed the agency's responses to 11 others unacceptable. All recommendations directed at the Pentagon remain open.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy warned in July that each day without implementation represents a "continued and unacceptable risk" to public safety. Duckworth echoed that concern, saying the administration's failure to act is compounded by the resources being spent on the arch project. "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. "It is a disservice to the flying public and dishonors the legacy of the lives tragically lost in the DCA midair collision."
The FAA spent months evaluating whether the arch, which would sit on Memorial Circle directly in the approach path for Reagan National Airport, poses a hazard to flights. The agency released its assessment on Friday, concluding the structure would not pose a risk—but notably, the review did not account for the presence of military drones. Duckworth seized on that gap, asking whether the FAA considered the arch's potential military use during its safety study and, if not, whether it would reopen the evaluation before a final decision.
She also pressed Bedford on whether the FAA has received any requests for drone operations near Memorial Circle, and asked Hegseth which military entity, if any, requested the arch be converted into a military complex. She requested answers by Oct. 5.
Duckworth is not alone in raising alarms. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery and Reagan National Airport, called the idea of a drone launch site in Memorial Circle "a stupid, dangerous, and unworkable idea." The controversy adds another layer to the ongoing debate over Trump's political maneuvering as he seeks to cement his legacy, while critics argue the arch project is a costly distraction from pressing aviation safety issues.
The arch plan has also drawn comparisons to Trump's recent defense-related decisions, which have sometimes blurred the line between ceremonial and military purposes. Duckworth's letter underscores the tension between the administration's symbolic ambitions and the practical realities of keeping the nation's capital safe.
