Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty has filed a lawsuit seeking to remove President Donald Trump’s name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Last week, the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, a group filled with Trump allies, decided to rename the performing arts center the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Beatty is one of several Democrats designated as board members under U.S. law. In her lawsuit, she argued that the name change was illegal because it would require an “act of Congress.”
According to the lawsuit, Beatty called a meeting to discuss the name change, but was silent when he tried to voice his opposition.
Beatty argues that Congress intended the center to be a “living memorial” to former President Kennedy.
“(I)n a scene more reminiscent of an authoritarian regime than the American Republic, a sitting president and his hand-picked loyalists have renamed this prominent center after President Trump,” the lawsuit states.
The White House said in a statement to the BBC that President Trump “saved the Kennedy Center by strengthening its finances, modernizing its buildings and ending its divisive woke programs.”
“As a result, the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees unanimously decided to change its name to the Trump-Kennedy Center,” said White House press secretary Liz Houston.
On Friday, the president’s name was added to the building’s exterior, and the center’s website logo now reads “Trump Kennedy Center.”
The name change was met with harsh criticism, especially in Washington, D.C., where the center has been an iconic landmark since it was built and named after Kennedy.
Musician Chuck Redd canceled his annual Christmas Eve jazz concert at the center, a tradition spanning nearly two decades, in response to the name change.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then a few hours later when I saw the name change on the building, I decided to cancel the concert,” Redd told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Redd has hosted the annual Christmas Eve “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts.
The Kennedy Center website lists the show as canceled.
Construction began on the performing arts center in the 1950s, and after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Congress decided to name it after him.
Shortly after taking office, President Trump fired a number of the center’s board members and replaced them with allies, who voted to elect him chairman of the board. His close associate Richard Grenell became chairman of the board.
According to the center’s website, the center’s current board of directors includes 34 people appointed by President Trump and 23 appointed under U.S. law.
Mr Trump also secured about $257 million (£190 million) in congressional funding to pay for major renovations and other costs, citing the stadium’s poor condition.
Several members of the Kennedy family criticized the name change on social media.
“The Kennedy Center is a living monument to a fallen president and is named after President Kennedy by federal law,” said Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman and nephew of the late president.
He added, “No matter what anyone says, you can’t change the name as fast as you can change the name of the Lincoln Memorial.”
