Exterior of the newly renamed Donald J. Trump John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Photo source: White House Instagram.
In Wednesday’s (12/23) Washington Post, Leo Sands writes, “In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) claimed that a vote by the center’s board last week to rename the institution the Trump Kennedy Center exceeded its statutory authority and requested that a judge declare it to be void. ‘Because Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center’s name requires an act of Congress,’ the lawsuit says. The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment … Thursday’s vote by the Kennedy Center’s board to add Trump’s name to the institution—which has sparked concern among legal experts—marked the most overt effort to date by the president and his allies to remold the storied institution in his image…. The lawsuit, which was filed by Democracy Defenders Action and the Washington Litigation Group on behalf of Beatty, requested that a judge order all physical and digital branding changes to be reversed. Trump’s name was added to the exterior of the building Friday, the day after the board’s vote. Beatty, who is an ex officio member of the center’s board, said in the suit that she had attended the board meeting virtually” but was not allowed to participate. The Kennedy Center is the home of the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera and presents visiting orchestras.
