By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 29, 2026 — Sen. Lisa Murkowski has publicly challenged President Donald Trump over two proposed changes to Washington landmarks, joining a Democratic colleague in an effort to require congressional approval before a presidential memorial can be demolished.
Murkowski, who runs and serves as an Alaska Republican without the support of most Alaska Republicans in her last election, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, introduced the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act after Trump raised the possibility of tearing down the Kennedy Center. Merkley sought to pass the bill by unanimous consent Monday night, but Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected, blocking its passage by that procedure.
“Democrats should join us in lowering the cost of living and securing American elections instead of wasting the Senate’s time with partisan scaremongering they haven’t even tried to run through the appropriate committee process,” Sen. Lee said, even though Murkowski is ostensibly a Republican, if in name only.
“President Trump has made recent statements about the Kennedy Center and the ‘Triumphal Arch,’ giving very little context or content about either to Congress or the public,” Murkowski said in a news release. “I would ask the Trump administration to work with us and present actual plans, including cost estimates, for these projects rather than circumventing their responsibility to American taxpayers.”
The bill addresses demolition of presidential memorials designated by Congress. It would require Congress to authorize demolition of all or a substantial part of such a memorial. Murkowski’s objections to Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch are part of the same public dispute, but the arch is a separate construction project; the memorial bill would not itself prohibit building it.
Congress designated the Kennedy Center as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. A federal judge has ruled that its board cannot change the center’s name without an act of Congress. In the continuing court fight, Trump has suggested the building could be torn down. The judge has required advance notice before major changes to renovation plans, including demolition.
The proposed arch would stand at Memorial Circle, near Arlington National Cemetery. The National Park Service decided that the project would adversely affect historic properties, although it has also issued a finding that the project would not have significant environmental impacts. Its final decision remains pending completion of the historic preservation process.
Murkowski chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding the Kennedy Center, the Interior Department and the National Park Service; Merkley is its ranking Democrat. Murkowski argues that Congress should see plans and costs before the administration proceeds with changes on this scale.
Lee’s objection leaves the memorial bill without the quick Senate passage Merkley sought, while the dispute over the Kennedy Center and arch continues.
