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President Trump has proposed a 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) held its final review on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, while veterans, park advocates and local officials protested nearby. Lawsuits from Vietnam veterans and from D.C. and Virginia seek to stop construction, arguing that congressional authorization is required.
President Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. in August 2025 for what he called a crime-fighting mission, and the mission has been extended repeatedly. D.C. sued in September 2025, arguing the deployment is an illegal use of the military for domestic law enforcement. Nearly 3,100 Guard members are currently in the city, and the deployment is expected to continue through Inauguration Day 2029.
Metro (WMATA) serves the Washington, D.C. region and is funded by fares and subsidies from D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Its fiscal year begins July 1, and its board votes on the budget in the spring after public comment. General Manager Randy Clarke discussed the coming budget gap after a board committee meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026.
Sphere Entertainment proposes a roughly 6,000-seat, $1.4 billion Sphere venue on a nearly 50-acre Beltway parcel near MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Prince George's County. The County Council recently voted 8-0 to authorize up to $215 million in special-obligation bonds tied to the project. On Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, the county Planning Board held an evidentiary hearing on the detailed site plan (DSP-2026-0030) and gave preliminary approval, while new renderings were released.
Christina Henderson was elected to the D.C. Council's at-large independent seat in 2020. D.C. law reserves at least two at-large seats for non-majority-party members and limits any party to three of the five at-large seats, including the chair. Robert White resigned his at-large Democratic seat on Nov. 2, 2026, after being elected delegate, which opened a Democratic seat. Henderson announced on Nov. 3 that she was switching her registration to Democrat.
The D.C. Preservation League and two local golfers have sued the Interior Department and National Park Service over plans to replace East Potomac Park's public golf courses with a Tom Fazio-designed championship course. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued an Oct. 26 preliminary injunction halting further tree removal and requiring advance notice of irreversible changes. The Park Service plans to close the park south of Buckeye Drive on Nov. 15, citing seawall hazards.
Prince George's County, Maryland, has been hit hard by federal workforce reductions and relocations under the Trump administration, including a USDA reorganization that threatens the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) and a contested FBI headquarters relocation to Greenbelt. After the November 2026 midterms, Democrats won control of Congress, and local leaders expect to use that majority to push back.