House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jared Huffman on Thursday accused Interior Secretary Doug Burgum of misleading Congress about the status of President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch — making his charge as he stood near active heavy machinery on the site outside of Arlington National Cemetery.
The California lawmaker, who has criticized the Trump administration for its plans to construct a massive, 250-foot arch gilded with gold called “Independence Arch,” toured the Virginia site along the Potomac River between the Lincoln Memorial and the cemetery, where workers in hard hats could be seen actively drilling.
Raising his voice to be heard above the sound of an active boring drill, Huffman accused Burgum of misrepresenting the status of the arch plans to lawmakers in testimony earlier this week.
“They have broken ground,” Huffman said while standing in the traffic circle alongside a fenced location where workers were boring holes. “You don’t do that if you are not pretty far along with a very specific project design and an actual project, notwithstanding Secretary Burgum’s sworn testimony yesterday in front of the whole world that there was no project, just a discussion.”
