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 Kennedy Center's board, filled with Trump allies, voted to rename the center the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Beatty, designated as a board member by US law, claims in her lawsuit that this renaming is illegal because it requires an act of Congress to change the name.
She stated that she was muted during the board meeting when she attempted to voice her opposition to the name change.
In the lawsuit, Beatty emphasizes that Congress intended the center to be a living memorial to former President Kennedy. She contrasted the situation with scenes from authoritarian regimes rather than democratic governance, citing the way the name change was pushed through by Trump and his loyalists.
The White House responded, claiming that Trump had saved the Kennedy Center through financial support and modernization, leading to the unanimous board vote in favor of the renaming.
Critics, especially in Washington DC, have expressed outrage at the name change. The center has been a revered landmark since its establishment in 1963 as a tribute to JFK.
Construction on the performing arts center began in the 1950s, and the naming of the center after Kennedy by Congress followed his assassination in 1963.
Trump's board reshuffle included appointing allies and securing $257 million in congressional funding, which he stated was necessary for renovations.
Members of the Kennedy family, including Joe Kennedy III, have publicly condemned the renaming, arguing that such a change is akin to renaming iconic monuments.
