Legal battle over Kennedy Center’s future continues

WASHINGTON - Attorneys for Kennedy Center board member Rep. Joyce Beatty are again urging a federal judge to intervene as the legal fight over the future of the center intensifies.

What we know:

In this latest dispute, Beatty’s legal team argues the Justice Department is effectively threatening to tear down the Kennedy Center if President Trump’s name is not added. 

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A tarp still covers the spot where the president’s name was briefly installed before a judge ordered it removed.

In May, a D.C. federal judge ruled that only Congress can change the center’s name. Weeks later, the Trump‑backed Kennedy Center Board voted to add the president’s name in a different form, proposing new front‑facing language: "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump."

Justice Department lawyers wrote in a filing earlier this week that the Kennedy Center is dangerously dilapidated, crediting President Trump with securing a new donor base and $258 million in congressional restoration funds. 

They warned that without those efforts, the center could deteriorate into an unsafe structure and would be required to be taken down.

RELATED: Kennedy Center board votes to close facility for 2 years, add Trump's name

Beatty’s attorneys view that language as a threat and are seeking to block the addition, writing in their response that the filing is an assault on the rule of law.

Beatty serves as an ex‑officio board member, not appointed by the president. The Kennedy Center is the national memorial honoring President John F. Kennedy, and supporters say they are concerned about its future.

Beatty’s filing also cites recent reporting that ticket sales and donations sharply dropped after the president’s name was added to the building.

The emergency hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m.