A federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request Friday to pause a ruling forcing the Trump administration to remove the president’s name from the Kennedy Center and blocking the planned closure of the institution for renovations. 

The DOJ had sought the stay as the federal government appeals U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s judgment. It was not immediately clear if government attorneys would next ask a federal appeals court to freeze his order. 

What You Need To Know

  • A federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request Friday to pause a ruling forcing the Trump administration to remove the president’s name from the Kennedy Center and blocking the planned closure of the institution for renovations

  • The DOJ had sought the stay as the federal government appeals U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s judgment, and it was not immediately clear if government attorneys would next ask a federal appeals court for a freeze on his order
  • Cooper ruled May 29 that physical and digital signage with President Donald Trump’s moniker must be taken down within 14 days — in response to a legal challenge to the center’s renaming brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board 

  • On Thursday, the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees voted to seek a stay in the ruling, government lawyers noted in their court filing, and the Justice Department submitted a notice of its appeal later that day

  • In an opposing response filed Friday, attorneys for Beatty wrote that the federal government’s “own conduct—waiting two weeks and within hours of the deadline for compliance before seeking extraordinary relief from the Court—underscores that they suffered no harm”

Cooper ruled May 29 that physical and digital signage with President Donald Trump’s moniker must be taken down within 14 days. His decision stemmed from a legal challenge to the center’s renaming brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board. 

The Kennedy Center’s lawyers sent a memo to staff last week giving instructions to scrub references to the “Trump Kennedy Center,” as well “the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” to abide by Friday's deadline.

“We are complying with the court’s order while evaluating all legal options to preserve this revitalization and recognize President Trump’s leadership,” Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president of public relations, said in a statement last week. 

On Friday, crews erected scaffolding outside the Kennedy Center in front of the building's main signage. Trump's name remained on the building as of that afternoon, while the logo on the center’s website and Instagram account had been updated to refer to the institution as The Kennedy Center.

On Thursday, the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees voted to seek a stay in the ruling, government lawyers noted in a court filing, and the Justice Department submitted a notice of its appeal later that day. 

“Requiring a name change now, only to potentially revert back to the current name after appeal, would be incredibly confusing for the public,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate wrote in the motion requesting a stay.

The Trump administration would need to prove “irreparable harm” to secure a stay pending its appeal of Cooper’s decision. 

In an opposing response filed Friday, attorneys for Beatty argued that the federal government’s “own conduct—waiting two weeks and within hours of the deadline for compliance before seeking extraordinary relief from the Court—underscores that they suffered no harm.”

“This latest gambit is frivolous,” the plaintiffs contended. 

A request made by Spectrum News to the White House for comment was not immediately returned. 

The legal wranglings date back to last year after the Kennedy Center’s board, which Trump stacked with allies, voted to add Trump to the performing arts institution's name, prompting Beatty’s suit. 

In February, Trump announced plans to close the center for a two-year renovation, which the board later approved the following month.

In his ruling, Cooper said the trustees’ vote in favor of the renovation “represents a dereliction of its common-law derived duty of prudence,” and blocked the institution from any “wind-down” of its programming and from closing its doors as planned July 5 — “until the Board approves any closure consistent” with the judge’s order or the injunction is lifted.

Cooper also rejected the legitimacy of the board’s renaming vote, writing, “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

But the Justice Department contended in its motion Thursday that the addition of Trump’s name was lawful, citing the center’s governing laws.

“Nowhere in that directive, or anywhere else in the governing statutes, is there any limitation on the Board’s ability to add a secondary name,” the DOJ lawyers wrote.

The Trump administration also argued that removing his name could hamper the institution’s fundraising efforts, calling the impact on its ability to solicit donations “definitionally irreparable.”

A Kennedy Center official said Friday said the establishment of the Trump Kennedy Center Fund was a “landmark commitment" to securing the institution’s future and would raise additional endowment funds for the center to supplement the $257 million allocated to the institution last year.

The official added that the institution remains a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy and noted that Trump continues to serve as chairman for the performing arts venue.