Rodney Mims Cook Jr. stood in the center of the room on Thursday, holding a miniature model of a dream made of stone. The Commission of Fine Arts Chairman, surrounded by a panel of presidential appointees, handed the tiny replica to Pamela Hughes Patenaude as they voted to change the face of the capital forever. The project, a 250-foot triumphal arch, was approved despite a flurry of lawsuits from military veterans and frantic suggestions from architects to lower the height. The design features a towering, winged angel and two golden eagles, intended to loom over the city like a neoclassical fever dream. According to the panel's statement, the structure is a celebration of '250 years of greatness, freedom, and posterity.' President Trump reportedly rejected any attempts to shrink the monument, which will stand nearly half as tall as the Washington Monument. The intent, according to the Commission, is to thank God’s providence with a display of pure, unadulterated scale. Critics may scream about the skyline, but the vision of a 250-foot angel looking down on the Mall is now a bureaucratic reality.