Democrats on the Congressional Humanities Caucus are pushing the Trump administration to reveal its plans to use money for the National Endowment for the Humanities to build a massive triumphal arch in the nation’s capital.
Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree, who serves as the ranking member of the House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, as well as caucus co-chair Nevada Rep. Dina Titus, led a letter Friday arguing that funds dedicated to supporting libraries, museums and other local humanities initiatives should not be repurposed for the arch. Trump has planned the 250-foot structure to rival the Arc de Triomphe in Paris that would be dedicated to U.S. military successes and fallen soldiers.
Initially announced as a White House project that would be paid for with private donations, the arch could also get NEH funds. The endowment’s fiscal 2026 funding plan devotes $15 million for the arch, including $2 million in special initiative funds and $13 million in matching grant funding.
“A construction project of this nature, especially one previously described by President Trump as privately funded, falls well outside the intended use of NEH program funding,” the lawmakers wrote. “Allocating funds to a project that has no legal basis to proceed is an abuse of taxpayer dollars.”
