<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) on Wednesday requested an emergency hearing with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board before a federal judge to discuss the legality of the center’s immediate closure following a vote the day before.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Beatty, an ex officio member of the board, has been involved in several lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s plans for the Kennedy Center, including objections to adding the president’s name to the facade and closing the center for two years for $250 million renovations.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the filing, Beatty’s lawyers allege that the board may have violated federal Judge Christopher Cooper’s previous ruling in May that blocked the center’s planned two-year closure for extensive renovations.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The latest court battle follows the Kennedy Center board’s Tuesday vote to close the facility immediately for safety reasons and to begin the planned renovation. Beatty later stated that the center is still open, despite Trump’s claim that it was not.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“He stated that we voted to close down the Kennedy Center today,” she said. “While I did not support the vote, the others who voted did not vote for the language that he is putting up on Truth Social and saying to people.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Beatty also described a reaction from Trump during the board meeting, stating that the language used was “unthinkable” for a president.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">However, fencing was erected around the center on Wednesday after visitors were escorted out and the doors were locked the evening before.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The center’s closure followed recent structural damage to the building, including a portion of the ceiling collapsing after severe storms in the Washington, D.C., area. A spokeswoman for the center stated that the decision to close immediately “reflects sound judgment and a clear prioritization of safety above all else.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On Tuesday, Cooper ruled that Trump’s name could not be placed on the facade of the building in any form. Initial attempts to change the name of the facility to the Trump-Kennedy Center were blocked in court earlier this year, leading the Trump administration and Trump-appointed board to seek other ways to add the president’s name to the facade, such as through an honorary plaque recognizing his contributions to the renovations.</p>