Sen. Kennedy Proposes Rule Against Naming Buildings After Living Politicians

<p>Senator John Kennedy, R-La., stated on Sunday that living public officials should not have buildings named after them and proposed a rule to prohibit such renaming efforts.</p><p>This statement follows President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to rename the Kennedy Center after himself. The president has also sought to rename other prominent federal buildings in Washington, D.C., since returning to the White House last year.</p><p>Kennedy remarked that public officials, including Trump, should not "spend public money on private ads for themselves."</p><p>"The White House sees it differently, but … you can’t spend public money to … promote yourself," Kennedy told host Margaret Brennan during an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation."</p><p>Kennedy's comments coincided with a new advertisement promoting Trump that appeared on multiple networks, funded by the federal government.</p><p>The senator suggested that public officials should be barred from having a building named after them while they are still alive. He stated, "I may end up with a sombrero on my head, but I also think we ought to have a rule that no politician can have a building named after him when he’s alive," referring to Trump's past mockery of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., through AI-generated videos.</p><p>Trump has attempted to rename multiple buildings after himself since returning to the Oval Office, including the Kennedy Center, although federal judges have blocked several attempts by the center's board—appointed by Trump—to add the president’s name to the building.</p><p>Trump's name was briefly added to the building's facade but was ordered removed after courts ruled that only Congress has the authority to change the center's name.</p><p>The State Department also added Trump’s name last year to the U.S. Institute of Peace, but former officials removed by the Trump administration filed a court motion earlier this month to block construction crews from putting the president’s name on the building's exterior.</p><p>Additionally, Trump suggested he wanted New York's Penn Station and the D.C. area's Dulles Airport named after him as a condition for a funding deal earlier this year.</p><p>The president has also proposed a project to construct a promenade connecting the back of the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River, indicating that allies wanted to call it the "Trump Promenade."</p><p>"They want to call it the Trump Promenade, but I don't know if I want to do that, but it's going to be beautiful," he commented at the time.</p>