Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty filed a lawsuit Monday in Washington, D.C., suing the Trump administration over the move to add U.S. President Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center.
Beatty, who sits on the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, said that adding Trump’s name to the venue is a “flagrant violation” of the constitution.
The lawsuit calls renaming the centre “more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than an American Republic.”
“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 lawsuit, published by the New York Times, reads.
Beatty called the board meeting held to vote to rename the Kennedy Center “a thinly-veiled sham.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the name change on social media on Dec. 18, saying the board had voted unanimously to adopt it. By Friday morning, its website masthead had been updated to reflect its new name, and now reads “The Trump Kennedy Center.” New signs appeared on the centre’s facade on Friday, to include Trump’s name.
“The meeting was held at the home of one of Defendant Trump’s supporters, whom he had installed to the Board. No notice was provided that a name change was being considered,” the lawsuit reads. “During the meeting, those who might oppose the name change were prevented from speaking.”
The lawsuit says Beatty “participated in the meeting remotely,” and was muted when she tried to oppose the move.
“This was a transparent effort to prevent any disagreement with the Board’s actions and indicates that nothing could, or will, ever change Defendants’ minds. The proceedings were mere window dressing for a predetermined decision,” it reads.
Beatty “repeatedly attempted to unmute herself,” the suit says, but “found that she was unable to do so.”
“Instead, the Plaintiff received written notices that she would not be unmuted, and therefore she could not participate in the meeting. At the end of the meeting, members of the Board falsely declared that the vote had been unanimous. It is clear that nothing could or would change Defendants’ mind,” the lawsuit adds.
The renaming of the Kennedy Center “violates federal law,” according to the lawsuit.
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“By statute, Congress has named the center as ‘the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.’ Under our constitutional system, only Congress can modify a statute, and Congress must do so by enacting a new statute,” the lawsuit reads. “Congress has not changed the Kennedy Center’s name. Instead, Defendants are willfully flouting the law to satisfy Defendant Trump’s vanity.”
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Beatty’s lawsuit claims that the court’s “intervention is urgently needed.”
“The renaming of the Kennedy Center will cause severe harm to this landmark institution, which is already struggling. Plaintiff in this case is Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a member of the Kennedy Center’s board who serves ex officio by virtue of her position in Congress, and who was a trustee at the time of the purported renaming,” the lawsuit says.
Beatty seeks a judgment “declaring the renaming unlawful, an injunction ordering Defendants to remove the signage purporting to rename the Kennedy Center after Defendant Trump, and any other relief this Court determines is appropriate.”
The lawsuit includes statements issued by members of the Kennedy family denouncing the renaming of the centre.
“President Trump and his administration have spent the past year repressing free expression, targeting artists, journalists, and comedians, and erasing the history of Americans whose contributions made our nation better and more just,” Kerry Kennedy, a niece of the late president Kennedy, wrote.
“President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer. President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy’s.”
In a post on X, Kerry shared a photo of the new signage and wrote, “Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder. Are you in? Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!!”
Kennedy’s niece Maria Shriver responded to the announcement of the name change with a lengthy Instagram message that reiterated her late uncle’s love and dedication to the arts and strongly disapproved of the change, calling it “beyond comprehension.”
“The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie amplified the arts, celebrated the arts, stood up for the arts and artists,” she wrote.
“Can we not see what is happening here? C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! This is not dignified. This is not funny.”
Congressional Black Caucus chair Yvette D. Clarke and its members released a statement denouncing the Trump administration’s “efforts to silence Rep. Joyce Beatty.”
“The Congressional Black Caucus stands in full support of Chair Emerita Congresswoman Joyce Beatty for her courage and integrity in speaking out after her voice was deliberately silenced during the controversial Kennedy Center renaming process,” the statement read.
“As an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board, Rep. Beatty had both the right and the responsibility to participate fully in its proceedings and to express her principled opposition. Instead, she was repeatedly muted and prevented from doing so.
“To make matters worse, the Trump Administration has attempted to falsely characterize the outcome of a vote to rename the Kennedy Center as unanimous—a blatant misrepresentation that undermines transparency and democratic norms. That is not consensus; it is censorship.”
The Congressional Black Caucus said the effort to “bypass Congress and rename the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump is wrong, distasteful, and must be firmly challenged.”
“The CBC commends Chair Emerita Beatty for her leadership, resolve, and unwavering commitment to accountability as she continues to oppose any effort that undermines Congress, distorts the truth, or disrespects the legacy of the Kennedy Center,” the statement concluded.
Beatty also pushed back last week after Leavitt announced that the decision to rename the centre was “unanimous.”
“Be clear: I was on that call,” Beatty said in a video shared to X. “As I tried to push my button to voice my concern, to ask questions, and certainly not to vote in support of this, I was muted. Each time I tried to speak, I was muted. Participants who were online were not allowed to voice their concerns, yet it was said at the end that it was a unanimous vote.”
The White House has not publicly addressed the lawsuit as of this writing.
— With files from Global News’ Rachel Goodman and The Associated Press
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