Did Trump’s hand-picked board break law in renaming Kennedy Center?

Democratic lawmakers are fighting to restore the original name of what is now dubbed the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and pushing to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.

One House member has filed a lawsuit saying the Trump-appointed board acted illegally to rename the building. Two more filed resolutions condemning the name change, and three senators want to restore the name back to just Kennedy and prevent future presidents from naming things after themselves.

Since its opening in 1971 as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the building has been known as the home of the National Symphony Orchestra and a top venue for performances such as ballet and opera. But for the past year, the sitting president has taken it on as one of his pet projects.

Trump cleared out the board of directors shortly after taking office in 2025 and replaced them with his own picks, who then named him the chairman. In December, that same board voted to rename the building to include Trump, and unveiled a new logo and signage on the building’s exterior.

Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced a bill Jan. 13 that would prohibit the renaming federal buildings for a sitting president and using federal funds to do so. It would affect not only the Trump Kennedy Center but the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.

“This is about any president trying to unilaterally put their name on a public building,” Van Hollen told USA TODAY. “Public buildings belong to the people of America. Their representatives in Congress from all over the country can decide what should be named after who and when.”

Liz Huston, White House assistant press secretary, said in a statement: “While the Democrats neglected the Trump-Kennedy Center for years, President Trump immediately stepped up to rescue and revitalize the institution. The newly named Trump-Kennedy Center proudly recognizes President Trump’s incredible contributions including strengthening its finances, leading major building upgrades, removing divisive woke programming, and transforming it into a welcoming destination that everyone can enjoy under his leadership. Only deranged Democrats could oppose these efforts.”

But producers and performers have canceled events at the venue due to Trump’s takeover and changes. Those include the musical “Hamilton,” the banjo player Béla Fleck, and the HBO star Issa Rae. The Washington National Opera, which was housed at the Kennedy Center since 1971, has also parted ways with the new Trump-aligned leadership.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.

List: All the performers who canceled shows at Trump’s Kennedy Center

Democrats praise JFK’s service

The pushback on the organization escalated since the name change in December. The Senate measure came Jan. 13, after a month of pushback from Democrats in the House who say that since Congress originally named the Kennedy Center, only Congress can rename it.

Van Hollen compared Trump to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who famously built statues dedicated to himself, and said no sitting president should be able to do the same.

“In the United States we don’t have kings. We’re a democracy,” Van Hollen said. “Donald Trump wants to follow in the footsteps of dictators who often name a lot of buildings and monuments after themselves.”

He said if the Senate held votes by secret ballot, his measure would pass by a huge margin or even unanimously.

Rep. April McClain Delaney, a Democrat from Maryland, introduced one bill that would declare the Dec. 18 vote to rename the Kennedy Center illegal, and another that would make it illegal to name federal buildings after sitting presidents.

Delaney quoted Kennedy’s famous “ask not” speech on the House floor Jan. 14. “Sadly, President Trump focuses more on what our country can do for him,” she said. “The Kennedy Center is a national treasure of the arts and a memorial to a fallen president.”

Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Democrat from Kennedy’s home state of Massachusetts, praised Kennedy in a speech Jan. 7 for his military service and the bigotry he endured as the first Irish Catholic elected President.

“He was the only United States president to have received the Purple Heart,” Lynch said. “He also received the medal of valor from the Navy and the Marine Corps because during World War Two. He was commanding a PT boat, PT 109, his vessel was struck by a destroyer in the South Pacific, and he actually risked his life to save his crew members.”

Lynch is asking the House to pass a formal resolution that would declare the renaming of the Kennedy Center illegal but not have any binding effect.

Rep. Joyce Beatty says renaming was a ‘sham’

“The board meeting at which the trustees purported to approve the Kennedy Center’s name change was a thinly-veiled sham,” Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio who serves as a non-voting member of the board, wrote in a federal lawsuit.

“When the Congresswoman tried to speak in opposition to the name change, she was muted,” the lawsuit says. “This was a transparent effort to prevent any disagreement with the Board’s actions and indicates that nothing could, or will, ever change Defendants’ minds. The proceedings were mere window dressing for a predetermined decision.”

Beatty’s lawsuit says that Congress named the Kennedy Center after Kennedy’s assassination so that it could serve as a living memorial to the former president.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the renaming in violation of federal law, declare the official name the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and require the removal of signage with the Trump name.

No hearing has been scheduled.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats push to get Trump’s name off Kennedy Center