[UPDATE] GOP appropriator Mike Simpson says he won't fund Trump's 250-foot arch from the Pentagon budget
Mike Simpson (Rep-R Idaho), a senior House appropriator, said he will not put defense money toward Trump's arch. The military is already short on cash, he said, and the White House should ask Congress for its own funding. Trump had recast the arch as a security structure holding drones, snipers and ammunition.
PREVIOUSLY
On Sep. 20, Trump said on Truth Social that his planned 250-foot arch near the Lincoln Memorial would store and deploy drones and snipers and hold ammunition "for National Security purposes."
- Trump's fiscal 2027 budget seeks roughly $1.5 trillion for defense, including about $1.15 trillion in discretionary funding; full-year FY2027 defense funding is not enacted.
- The House Appropriations Committee voted along party lines in June to reject an amendment blocking the arch.
- The arch would stand 250 feet between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, less than a mile from the Pentagon.