Counsel for Rep. Beatty filed an immediate response urging the appeals court to deny a stay and uphold the deadline for removing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Early today, Democracy Defenders Action and the Washington Litigation Group, co-counsel for Rep. Joyce Beatty, filed a response opposing the administration's request to stay a federal court order requiring the removal of President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center building. The filing states, “This latest gambit is frivolous. The court should deny the motion.”

The court previously ruled that the administration violated federal law by putting Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center because only Congress has the authority to change the Center’s name.

Less than a day before the court-ordered deadline, the administration filed an appeal seeking to halt the ruling and preserve the existing signage. The appeal followed action by the Kennedy Center's board, composed largely of Trump appointees, which voted to challenge the ruling during a June 11, 2026, meeting. Prior to the board meeting, Kennedy Center administrators had complied with most of the court's order on renaming by removing Trump's name from the Center's website and withdrawing trademark applications associated with the designation. The sign above the Kennedy Center entrance was the only remaining place where Trump’s name still had to be removed.

The appeal was filed on June 11, 2026, by the Department of Justice, which is representing the Kennedy Center in the litigation and is currently led by Trump’s former personal attorney Todd Blanche. Judge Cooper’s court-ordered deadline to remove the sign stays in effect until a court says otherwise.

“It’s clear to me after this latest board meeting that some of Donald Trump’s appointees are more focused on elevating the president than advancing the arts,” said Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3). “The court was clear in its order because the statute is clear: Only Congress can change the name of the Kennedy Center. Despite being informed by the board’s general counsel that the Kennedy Center was complying with Judge Cooper’s order, several board members still pushed for a last-minute appeal. Donald Trump’s name on this building is unlawful and the games this administration is playing to avoid its removal do not change that. My hope moving forward is that the board restores the integrity of the Kennedy Center, rebuilds programming and respects the rule of law. This beloved national treasure deserves nothing less.”

“The Trump administration’s eleventh-hour gambit after waiting nearly two weeks evinces desperation,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and board member of Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group. “That is what they should be feeling because they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. We are vigorously contesting this latest ploy, as we have throughout the case, on behalf of Congresswoman Beatty and the American people.”

Read the filing opposing the stay here.

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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.