House Lawmaker Requests Emergency Court Hearing After Kennedy Center Closure

After fencing went up around the Kennedy Center and the main building was closed to the public, a House lawmaker on Thursday an emergency hearing, warning that the shutdown violates a judge’s order.

The board, dominated by allies of President Donald Trump, voted for a resolution on Tuesday to immediately close the main building of the complex, citing safety issues while the center has been working on plans for a large scale renovation. The resolution also pointed to a recent incident in which a portion of the ceiling collapsed to the floor following a recent rainstorm.

But attorneys for Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the center board who has been challenging the closure plan, noted that U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s order prohibits a shutdown until he lifted a preliminary injunction, something that he has yet to do. The judge has ruled that renovations could proceed, but a closure could come only after the board made a fuller analysis of its impact.

Per a court filing, a staffer at a law firm representing Beatty sought to enter the main building on Wednesday but was advised by security that it was closed to the public.

Cooper has given the center until Thursday morning to respond to Beatty’s motion for an emergency hearing.

The judge on Tuesday prohibited the board’s latest plan to return Donald Trump’s name to the facade of the complex or to designate its grounds for him. Trump, who serves as the center’s chair, posted on Truth Social that they would seek an expedited appeal, but that the renovation would not proceed if courts rule against the naming plan.

Beatty has said that she is not opposed to a renovation, but previous plans were to keep the center open as the rehab was carried out in phases.