Congresswoman Urges Court to Block Trump Administration’s Threats to Demolish, Deface Kennedy Center
August 27, 2026
Responding to the Trump administration’s threats to demolish the building, Rep. Beatty and counsel affirm “the law is on our side”
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Earlier today, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03) and her counsel from Democracy Defenders Action and Washington Litigation Group argued in court to stop the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees from, once again, placing President Donald Trump’s name on the building or acting on its apparent threat that the building could be “required to be taken down.”
At today’s hearing, Rep. Beatty urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the Kennedy Center Board’s latest attempt to inscribe Trump’s name on the building and permanently block the Board’s efforts to rename it after their threats to demolish the center entirely. Rep. Beatty and her counsel responded to Trump’s threat to demolish the Kennedy Center, filing a response with the court calling the board’s actions a “breathtaking assault on the rule of law.”
“This latest threat was the president of the United States saying, ‘If I don’t get my way doing something unlawful, then I’m just going to come in and tear it down,” said Rep. Beatty, who spoke with reporters outside the court following today’s hearing. “We will continue to fight against these unlawful actions — and the American people are on our side.”
“The government is flouting the court’s orders and risking a constitutional crisis over one man’s vanity,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.) of Democracy Defenders Action and Nathaniel Zelinsky of the Washington Litigation Group.
Rep. Beatty is an ex officio trustee of the Kennedy Center by virtue of her position in Congress. She is represented by Nathaniel Zelinsky, Kyle Freeny and Alex Kristofcak of Washington Litigation Group, and Norm Eisen, Steve Jonas and David W. Ogden of Democracy Defenders Action.
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Democracy Defenders Action brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real time the foundations of our democracy.
The Washington Litigation Group is a nonpartisan team of attorneys dedicated to defending individuals and institutions that have been unlawfully targeted for exercising their legal rights and to fighting against governmental overreach.
For media inquiries, contact, press@democracydefenders.org.
