Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) escalated the legal battle over the Kennedy Center on Monday, with her lawyers describing the tarp covering the building's exterior as an “act of petty defiance.” The tarp was installed after President Trump's name was removed from the iconic arts venue.
Beatty, who serves as an ex officio board member of the Kennedy Center, originally sued the Trump administration over the naming dispute. Her legal team filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, demanding the center's original name be restored and the tarp permanently taken down.
In the motion, Beatty's attorneys argued that the administration “willfully flouted the statutes Congress passed; played chicken with the judicial system; now threaten to sabotage this sacred institution; and continue to obscure the Kennedy Center’s façade in an act of petty defiance.” They stressed that while President Kennedy's name remains on the building, the letters are hidden beneath a semi-permanent covering, which they called an effort to block the restoration of the status quo before the renaming.
The Hill has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment on the latest filing.
Trump's name was removed at the request of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper. Last month, Cooper ruled that the center's board had improperly voted to close the venue for renovations. He set a June 12 deadline for removing Trump's name from all materials, including the building's exterior and the website. The tarp and scaffolding went up that day and have remained in place since.
The latest filing asks Judge Cooper to reject the Kennedy Center board's last-minute appeal to keep Trump's name on the building. The center's lawyers would need to prove that removing the president's name would cause “irreparable harm.” Beatty's attorneys countered that the center's defense fails to demonstrate such harm, calling it “independently fatal to their motion.”
“Indeed, Appellants’ own conduct – complying until June 11, only to plead for a stay at the very last moment – betrays their total lack of urgency,” the motion reads.
Government lawyers maintain that the Trump administration complied with Cooper's order to remove Trump's name from all digital and physical signage. However, the center's executive director, Matt Floca, said in a Friday filing that management plans to present the board with options to partially close the arts center for renovations between July and December.
Beatty's lawyers seized on that statement, arguing that the administration's filing “confirms that they plan to turn the Kennedy Center into a lifeless husk.” The dispute highlights the broader political tensions surrounding the institution, as Democrats accuse the Trump administration of using the venue as a political weapon.
As the legal fight continues, the tarp remains a potent symbol of defiance, with Beatty's team determined to force a return to the original name and a fully operational center.
