The District of Columbia and Virginia have filed a joint federal lawsuit against the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior to block the proposed Triumphal Arch at Memorial Circle.

What we know: D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones filed the 46-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Oct. 31. The lawsuit claims the planned 250-foot monument is "flagrantly unlawful," noting it nearly doubles the District's 130-foot building height limit and lacks mandatory congressional approval.

The attorneys general argue a two-to-three-year construction period will close portions of Memorial Circle, reduce Memorial Bridge to two westbound lanes and introduce heavy construction traffic.