Senior House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) on Monday said he is against using defense spending to fund President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch, noting that other military needs should be prioritized.
Trump said on Sunday that his planned arch will now be a military complex to house drones and snipers, which could open the door for it to be financed through a defense spending package. Simpson did not appear enthusiastic about using federal defense dollars for the arch.
“There’s a lot of things that we need the military funding for — in fact, we’re short on military funding right now,” Simpson told reporters.
When pressed on whether any money intended for the arch should come from the Pentagon, Simpson said, “If it was my choice, I wouldn’t put any of that money into the arch.”
The Trump administration has not released a detailed breakdown of how the arch construction will be funded, but the National Endowment for the Humanities’s spending plan suggests a mix of federal and taxpayer dollars will be used. Trump previously suggested that leftover, privately raised money from the White House ballroom could be used.
In June, the House Appropriations Committee voted along party lines to reject an amendment that would’ve blocked the arch from being constructed.
If making the arch a “top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch” is any indication of where Trump will find funding for the project, it adds to an already heavy defense spending lift. Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget calls for roughly $1.5 trillion in total defense funding, including about $1.15 trillion in discretionary funding that would require congressional appropriations. Congress has not yet enacted the full-year defense funding for fiscal 2027.
Simpson said funding the arch through the defense budget “needs to be debated,” but emphasized other Department of War priorities should take precedent. Any Pentagon money directed toward the project would depend on the funding source and could require congressional authorization.
“I hope if they decide to do it, that they would come to Congress and ask for an appropriation for it if they’re going to use appropriated dollars to do it,” he said.
TRUMP SAYS TRIUMPHAL ARCH WILL BE CONVERTED INTO ‘TOP-GRADE’ MILITARY COMPLEX
The 250-foot triumphal arch, designed to sit between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery at the Memorial Circle on Columbia Island.
The arch has passed initial safety reviews, most recently being cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration last week following concerns that its 250-foot height would pose a threat to aircraft landing at the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The structure must still get approval from the National Capital Planning Commission before construction proceeds.