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A legal challenge has been mounted against the recent renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty has filed a lawsuit, contending that the decision by the Trump-appointed board to change the name to "Trump-Kennedy Center" is illegal, as any official name alteration for the center requires "an act of Congress." Her suit seeks the removal of the former president's name.
Beatty is one of several Democratic lawmakers designated as members of the board by US law.
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.
"In 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, 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.
Construction began on a performing arts centre in the 1950s and after Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Congress decided to name it after him. Shortly after taking office, Trump fired a slew of the centre's board members and replaced them with allies, who then voted to make him chairman of the board. His close adviser Richard Grenell became board president.
The centre's board of trustees currently has 34 members appointed by Trump and 23 others designated as members by US law, according to the centre's website. Trump also secured about $257m in congressional funding to pay for major renovations and other costs at the venue, saying it was in "bad shape".
Several members of the Kennedy family took to social media to criticise the name change.
