Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) filed a lawsuit Monday attempting to prevent President Trump’s name from appearing on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Beatty, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, alleges in her complaint that adding Trump’s name to the building constitutes a “flagrant violation” of the Constitution.
“Congress intended the Center to be a living memorial to President Kennedy and a crown jewel of the arts for all Americans, irrespective of party. Unless and until this Court intervenes, Defendants will continue to defy Congress and thwart the law for improper ends,” the filing states.
Beatty is represented by Norman Eisen, a former Obama White House ethics adviser, along with attorney Nathaniel Zelinsky of the Washington Litigation Group, according to The New York Times.
The Ohio Democrat also claims that the administration mischaracterized a recent board call, asserting that officials falsely stated board members “unanimously” supported the change. Beatty alleges participants’ microphones were muted, preventing members from raising objections.
The Kennedy Center updated its exterior signage on Friday to reflect the inclusion of President Trump’s name, a step that follows broader reforms initiated earlier this year. The administration’s overhaul has focused on reorienting programming and tightening standards around performances considered inappropriate for the venue’s mission.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other critics have argued the renaming effort is unlawful. But the center’s interim president, Richard Grenell, defended the decision.
“It’s now a bipartisan space reflecting the new era. Donald Trump saved it,” Grenell wrote on X, pointing to Trump-era initiatives that stabilized the center’s financial footing.
Beatty’s lawsuit characterizes the updates—including the name change—as “more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic—the sitting President and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied center after President Trump.”
The dispute now heads to federal court, where judges will determine whether the Kennedy Center’s board acted within its authority or whether Beatty’s challenge can block the newly installed signage.
HOW SAD WHOEVER YOU ARE. DO YOU WANT THIS HONOR FOR YOURSELF.
Democrat/Communists are never happy.
No matter what happens if it is good for America, they are against it.
God save us from the Liberal White Women that want us taken down.
Amen
Agree!