Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) on Wednesday requested an emergency hearing with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board before a federal judge to discuss the legality of the center’s immediate closure after a vote the day before.
Beatty, an ex officio member of the board, has been the driving force behind several lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s overhaul of the Kennedy Center, objecting to plans to add the president’s name to the facade and close the center for two years for $250 million renovations.
In the filing, Beatty’s lawyers allege the board may have violated federal Judge Christopher Cooper’s previous block in May of the center’s planned two-year closure for extensive renovations.
The latest court battle follows the Kennedy Center board’s Tuesday vote to shutter the facility immediately for safety reasons and to begin the planned renovation. Beatty, however, later claimed the center is still open despite Trump’s claim that it was not.
“He stated that we voted to close down the Kennedy Center today,” she said. “While I did not support the vote, the others who voted did not vote for the language that he is putting up on Truth Social and saying to people.”
Beatty also detailed a “tantrum” from Trump during the board meeting, saying the language used was “unthinkable” for a president.
However, fencing went up around the center on Wednesday after visitors were escorted out and the doors were locked the evening before.
REP. JOYCE BEATTY DETAILS TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER ‘TANTRUM,’ SAYS VENUE IS STILL OPEN
The center’s closure followed recent structural damage to the building, including a chunk of the ceiling collapsing after severe storms in the Washington, D.C., area. A spokeswoman for the center said the decision to close immediately “reflects sound judgment and a clear prioritization of safety above all else.”
Also on Tuesday, Cooper ruled that Trump’s name could not go on the facade of the building in any form. Initial attempts to change the name of the facility to the Trump-Kennedy Center were blocked in court earlier this year, leading the Trump administration and Trump-appointed board to try to add the president’s name to the facade in other ways, such as in an honorary plaque recognizing his contributions to the renovations.