A Democrat lawmaker has sued President Donald Trump and the Trump-Kennedy Center board members over the facility’s renaming.
As previously reported, last week the board of trustees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (originally named after JFK) voted to rename the facility the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
This move enraged Democrats and their allies, particularly in the infamous Kennedy family. It also angered Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the board.
Beatty alleged that she was muted and denied the opportunity to speak or vote when the board officially voted to rename the Trump-Kennedy Center.
For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship. https://t.co/D1zGV7xiWV pic.twitter.com/npNvSIy6sV
— Rep. Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) December 18, 2025
On Monday, leftist attorney Norm Eisen and his firm, Democracy Defenders Action, announced that both his organization and the Washington Litigation Group will be representing Beatty in a lawsuit against Trump and the Trump-Kennedy Center board members.
“The President and his sycophants have no lawful authority to rename the Kennedy Center,” Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, the senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, said in a statement.
“Congress named the Kennedy Center as a national memorial to President Kennedy, and only Congress can change that. We are proud to represent Congresswoman Beatty as she defends the integrity of this institution and the separation of powers,” they added.
“Only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center,” Beatty herself said in a statement. “President Trump and his cronies must not be allowed to trample federal law and bypass Congress to feed his ego.”
“This entire process has been a complete disgrace to this cherished institution and the people it serves. These unlawful actions must be blocked before any further damage is done,” she added.
The stunning suit, seen here, accuses Trump of replacing the board “with staunch loyalists who will do his bidding, including his own White House Chief of Staff, multiple Fox News personalities, and the spouses of his Vice President and Secretary of Commerce.”
BREAKING: We are suing Trump & his cronies to restore the Kennedy Center’s lawful name
We @DDAction_ are proud to represent Kennedy Center Trustee @RepBeatty w/our friends at Washington Litigation Group
Congress named the Center & only they can change it https://t.co/SxE8PZAh9X
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) December 23, 2025
The suit also alleges that the renaming was illegal.
“Because Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center’s name requires an act of Congress,” the suit reads. “But on December 18 and 19, 2025—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 suit continues by accusing Trump of politicizing the Trump-Kennedy Center.
“The ongoing politicization of the Kennedy Center has had grave consequences for the institution,” it reads. “Major figures have broken their ties with the Kennedy Center, and public reporting has found that nearly half of the Kennedy Center’s tickets now go unsold.”
Those “major figures” seem to mainly include Democrats like the infamous Kennedys.
“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” JFK’s niece Maria Shriver angrily tweeted after the renaming. “It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”
“Can we not see what is happening here? C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! This is not dignified. This is not funny. This is way beneath the stature of the job. It’s downright weird. It’s obsessive in a weird way. Just when you think somone [SIC] can’t stoop any lower, down they go…,” she added.
In a tweet of his own, JFK’s grandnephew, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, alleged that the center can’t legally be renamed.
“The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law,” he wrote. “It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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