Democratic US 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 filled with allies – voted to rename the performing arts centre the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Beatty is one of several Democratic lawmakers designated as members of the board by US law. She claimed in her lawsuit that the renaming was illegal because changing the name requires “an act of Congress”.
The suit says Beatty had called into the meeting about the name change but was muted when she tried to voice her opposition.
Beatty argues that Congress intended for the centre to be a “living memorial” to former President Kennedy.
“[I]n scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic – the sitting President and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied center after 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 programming”.
“As a result, the Board of the Kennedy Center voted unanimously to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center — a historic move that marks a new era of success, prestige, and restored grandeur for one of America’s most iconic cultural institutions,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said.
On Friday, the president’s name was added to the exterior of the building, and the centre’s website logo now reads “The Trump Kennedy Center”.
The name change has been met with harsh criticism, particularly in Washington DC where the centre has been an iconic landmark since it was built and named for Kennedy.