{"id":656667,"date":"2026-03-15T05:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T05:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/656667\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T05:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T05:03:16","slug":"a-seat-at-the-table-but-no-vote-yet-in-the-kennedy-center-board-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/656667\/","title":{"rendered":"A seat at the table, but no vote yet in the Kennedy Center board showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A federal judge ruled<\/a> on Saturday that a Democratic lawmaker is entitled to participate in a Kennedy Center board meeting to discuss President Donald Trump\u2019s plan to close<\/a> the performing arts center for two years of renovations.<\/p>\n

But the judge is not forcing the board to let Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member through her position in Congress, vote at Monday\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

She sued to preclude the Trump administration from excluding her from the meeting where board members are expected to decide whether to approve the Republican president\u2019s proposal to shutter the center during the construction project.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper concluded that the board must give Beatty documents about the closure and renovation plans because withholding that information before the vote would prevent her from doing her job as a trustee. She must also be allowed to speak at the meeting, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Court finds, however, that Beatty has not carried her burden as to her right to vote, at least at this very early stage,\u201d Cooper said. The judge said allowing her to participate and engage in deliberations means \u201cthe marginal harm to her from not voting is much less, as she will be able to lodge her objections on the record and have the opportunity to persuade her colleagues of her position.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/p>\n

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Kennedy Center spokeswoman Roma Daravi said the center \u201cwill abide by the court\u2019s ruling and is happy to provide information demonstrating the need for closure and renovations.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no immediate response from Beatty to requests for comment on the ruling.<\/p>\n

After Cooper heard arguments Thursday, Beatty told reporters she went to court to stand up for the rule of law and democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to know where your money \u2014 our money \u2014 is going,\u201d she said outside the courthouse. <\/p>\n

Beatty\u2019s lawyer, Nathaniel Zelinsky, said the White House has engaged in a pattern of trying to stifle dissent at meetings like the one scheduled for Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not asking for something unusual,\u201d he told the judge. \u201cIt\u2019s my friends on the other side you are asking you to deviate from the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper pressed Justice Department lawyer William Jankowski to explain why the administration balked at providing Beatty with details of its plans for the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not just give her the information?\u201d the judge asked. \u201cHow is the government harmed?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jankowski said the information \u2014 possibly a work in progress \u2014 should be provided to Beatty and other meeting participants by Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn action isn\u2019t final until it\u2019s final,\u201d he told Cooper.<\/p>\n

Trump paid scant attention to the Kennedy Center during his first term, breaking with tradition and skipping all of the annual honors awards programs after some of those being honored in 2017, Trump\u2019s first year as president, threatened to boycott if he participated in the festivities. <\/p>\n

But he has shown a much higher level of interest than any other recent president in the performing arts center\u2019s operations after he returned to office in January 2025. Trump named loyal supporters such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and longtime aide Dan Scavino to the board to replace members he had not appointed, and the reconstituted board subsequently elected him as chairman.<\/p>\n

Trump involved himself in the selection of artists to be recognized as 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees and hosted the program. He has complained about the building\u2019s appearance and secured $257 million from Congress for the Kennedy Center in a tax cut and spending bill he signed into law last summer. Richard Grenell, the ally Trump appointed as the center\u2019s president, has criticized the Kennedy Center\u2019s finances. Trump announced on Friday that Grenell will step down<\/a> from his post and be succeeded by Matt Floca, who manages the Kennedy Center\u2019s facilities operations. The moves are expected to be finalized at the board\u2019s Monday meeting.<\/p>\n

The building has fallen on hard times since Trump stepped up his involvement in its operations. Numerous artists have canceled performances and attendance has dropped off.<\/p>\n

In December, the board voted to add Trump\u2019s name to the institution and by the next day it was reflected on the building\u2019s exterior, sparking outrage from some Kennedy family members. <\/p>\n

In February, the president announced on social media that he was closing the Kennedy Center on July 4 for two years for renovations, subject to board approval. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A federal judge ruled on Saturday that a Democratic lawmaker is entitled to participate in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":656668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[278241,356,278244,12785,84,69,171,57,278240,336,278243,50,1574,1573,11335,80,19917,13210,61,67,370,132,68,333,93,278242],"class_list":["post-656667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-christopher-cooper","tag-courts","tag-dan-scavino","tag-dc-wire","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-entertainment","tag-general-news","tag-joyce-beatty","tag-lawsuits","tag-nathaniel-zelinsky","tag-news","tag-oh-state-wire","tag-ohio","tag-pam-bondi","tag-politics","tag-richard-grenell","tag-trump-lawsuits","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-voting","tag-washington-news","tag-william-jankowski"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116231445273065783","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}