Lawmaker sues Trump, Kennedy Center board
By: Bethany Bruner
Columbus Dispatch
USA Today Network
..... An Ohio lawmaker is suing President Donald J. Trump and his administration, saying they violated the law by renaming the John F, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
.....
Representative Joyce Beatty filed the lawsuit on December 22 [2025] in the U.S. district Court for the Distinct of Columbia. The filing comes days after members of the Kennedy Center board, of which Beatty is a member, voted to reanimate the center.
..... Shortly after the vote, workers could be seen putting up new giant letters outside the DC landmark that says: The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
..... "In scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes hat the American republic - the sitting President and his picked loyalists renamed this storied center," the lawsuit says. "This is a flagrant violation of the rule of law, and it flies in the face of our constitutional order."
..... Beatty is sassing the federal court to step in and find the renaming of the center unlawful, and to issue an order requiring the new signage that added Trump's name to be removed.
..... The lawsuit says Congress intended the arts center, which was named after President John F. Kennedy in the months following his November 1963 assassination, to be a "living memorial" and a "crown jewel of the arts for all Americans, respective of party."
..... In addition to Trump, the lawsuit names Richard Grenell, the president of the Kennedy Center, and the other members of the center's board. Those members include Attorney General Pam Bondi, Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
..... "Under our constitutional system, only congress must do so by enacting a new statute. 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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The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network, contacted the Kennedy Center for comment, but didn't immediacy receive a response.
..... Beatty, a Democrat representing Ohio's 3rd Congressional District, is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board. Following the December 18 [2025] vote, Beatty posted in a video to Bluesky that she was repeatedly muted and prevented form speaking during the board's meeting. Beatty said the description of the board's vote to change the center's name is unanimous was inaccurate.
..... The meeting, according to the lawsuit, was held at the home of Andrea Wynn, whose husband had been placed on the board by Trump. No notice was given that the an change would be considered during the meeting, the lawsuit says.
..... "The proceedings were mere window dressing for a predetermined decision" the lawsuit says. "that Defendants had already procured matching signage for the Kennedy Center's front portico in advance and prearranged for workmen to arrive the day following the Board meeting indicates that Defendants had planned to rename the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump, and nothing would or could change their minds."