Democratic Representative 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 board of the Kennedy Center, which Trump has filled with allies, voted to rename the performing arts center the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Beatty is one of several Democratic lawmakers appointed to the board by U.S. law. In her lawsuit, she said the renaming was illegal because changing the name required an “act of Congress.”
The lawsuit says Beatty called into a meeting about the name change but was silenced when she tried to voice her opposition.
Beatty argues that Congress intended the center to be a “living monument” to former President Kennedy.
“[I]In scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic, the sitting President and his elected supporters renamed this legendary center in honor of President Trump,” the lawsuit states.
In a statement provided to the BBC, the White House said Trump had “stepped up” and saved the Kennedy Center by “strengthening its finances, modernizing the building and ending divisive woke programs.”
“As a result, the Kennedy Center Board voted unanimously to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center, a historic move that heralds a new era of success, prestige and restored grandeur for one of America’s most iconic cultural institutions,” White House spokeswoman Liz Houston said in a statement.
On Friday, the president's name was added to the building's façade 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 become an iconic landmark since it was built and named after Kennedy.
Bloomberg via Getty ImagesConstruction of the performing arts center began in the 1950s, and after Kennedy's assassination in 1963, Congress decided to name it in his honor.
Shortly after taking office, Trump fired scores of the center's board members and replaced them with his allies, who then voted to make him chairman of the board. His close adviser Richard Grenell became chairman of the board of directors.
According to the center's website, the center's board of trustees currently includes 34 members appointed by Trump and another 23 appointed as members under U.S. law.
Trump also secured about $257m (£190m) in congressional funding to pay for major renovations and other costs at the stadium, saying it was in “poor condition”.
Several Kennedy family members took to social media to criticize the name change.
Joe Kennedy III, a former member of the House of Representatives and great-nephew of the late president, said that “the Kennedy Center is a living monument to the fallen president and is named in honor of President Kennedy by federal law.”
“It can’t be renamed, not before someone can rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” he added.
