A Virginia attorney with deep familiarity with Washington, D.C.-area law has flagged a legal requirement that President Donald Trump's administration appears to be overlooking as it prepares to build a "triumphal arch" in Arlington, Virginia.

Construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks, but no notice appears to have been published under a "consent order" requiring the National Park Service (NPS) to publish a notice and inform the courts at least 14 days before any construction or demolition begins.

Consent orders are settlements approved by a court, and parties that fail to comply with their terms can be found in violation of a court order — a situation that historically exposes federal agencies to renewed litigation or contempt proceedings. In this case, the notice requirement gives the plaintiffs and the court a window to respond before irreversible site work begins at Memorial Circle, the traffic roundabout on the Virginia side of the Arlington Memorial Bridge that sits directly in the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The requirement is a modest procedural step in any project involving construction, demolition, or major renovation, but it is one that the Trump administration has consistently skipped, the attorney argues.

"Didn't the Government make a commitment to provide 14 days' notice prior to construction?" asked Jas Easterly when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that construction of the arch would begin. "Does the 14-day commitment cover excavation and other site-disturbing work, or only 'construction' of the arch itself?"

When a follower asked whether Burgum's tweet counted as public notice, Easterly explained that it is not "the notice the consent order requires."

"I don't see a notice for either," he added in a thread on BlueSky.

NOTUS reporter Jenna Monnin wrote on Thursday: "In April, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the NPS to provide the court with at least 14 days' notice prior to 'commencement of construction, or demolition in preparation for construction.'"

"Consistent with Defendant's statements, Defendant NPS shall not authorize construction of an arch on Memorial Circle to begin before NPS has published a notice stating its authorization on its Planning, Environmental and Public Comment website ()," the order states.

The underlying lawsuit was brought by the organization Public Citizen on behalf of three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian, who argue that the arch would block the view of Arlington National Cemetery from Washington.

The NPS has acknowledged that the arch would block the view of Arlington, but maintains that it would create a new view through the arch itself. The administration has also specified that the arch is to stand 250 feet tall, symbolizing the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

"Has NPS actually filed the required 14-day notice?" Easterly asked. "Because if it hasn't, this is a very clean factual story. If the administration says excavation is about to begin, that is an extraordinary juxtaposition. The government's filing yesterday is NOT the notice, and I find no docket entry identified as a notice under the April 8 consent order, and nothing in the current docket indexing that says NPS is providing the required 14-day notice of commencement of construction/pre-construction demolition."

Easterly noted that the NPS's Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) page now hosts the Environmental Assessment and the FONSI — the Finding of No Significant Impact. However, he explained that "this FONSI does not constitute a final decision or approval for the project."

"Remember, the order says NPS can't authorize construction until notice with authorization is posted on PEPC," Easterly emphasized. Whether NPS ultimately publishes the required notice — and whether the plaintiffs return to Judge Chutkan's court if it does not — is the immediate question to watch as the administration's construction timeline approaches.