Confederate Memorial must be Removed from Arlington National Cemetery

After a congressionally established naming commission determined that a Confederate Memorial must be removed from Arlington National Cemetery because of its depictions of the Confederacy and slavery, NRS successfully defended multiple lawsuits challenging the Department of Defense’s removal of the Memorial.

In the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress created the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense and vested it with the authority and obligation to determine which Department of Defense assets should be removed or renamed because they commemorate the Confederacy. The Commission subsequently recommended that the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery be removed. Various groups filed suit, challenging the Army’s authority to remove the Memorial and alleging that the Army was required to complete a full environmental review before proceeding with removal. After extensive briefing in Defend Arlington v. U.S. Department of Defense, which included defeating a last-minute request for a preliminary injunction, NRS was successful in obtaining decisions making clear that Plaintiffs could not challenge the removal under the Administrative Procedure Act because the Army had no discretion in carrying out a Congressional directive. As a result, the Army was able to complete removal of the Memorial within the time mandated by Congress.