EMERGENCY HEARING DENIED
Cooper turned down a request by Beatty for an emergency hearing on her lawsuit after the Kennedy Centre’s board, including Trump and his hand-picked appointees, voted this week to close the venue for up to two years for a US$257 million renovation project.
Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, said the venue is no longer accessible to the public during normal operating hours. New barriers were visible outside the building on Wednesday.
Beatty and other critics have accused Trump of seeking to place his name on the Kennedy Centre out of vanity. Trump’s name had been placed on the building’s facade until the judge in May ordered it removed, saying only Congress can change the name.
Cooper earlier directed the board to explain by Thursday whether the administration’s plan violates an earlier order he issued limiting its ability to shut its doors. The board said on Thursday morning that it was not in violation of the order, and the seven-day emergency closure was separate from the larger renovation plans.
The Trump administration said it would ask the judge by Friday to dissolve the prior order to allow for what the government called “closure necessary to complete the restoration and renovations.”
Cooper, in a ruling on Tuesday, rejected the center’s latest effort to put Trump’s name on the building to reflect his role in the planned renovation. The administration has appealed, and Trump said on social media the Kennedy Centre “is destined to doom” if it is not permitted to close for repairs.
