The board of directors the Kennedy Center voted on Monday in favor of President Donald Trump’s proposal to shut the institution down for two years, according to the Associated Press.
The closure will begin after celebrations there on July 4, marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. When Trump announced plans to close the Center in February, he said he wanted to transform “a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center,” into “the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind,” which would necessitate its complete closure.
According to the AP, in a press conference ahead of the vote on Monday, Trump told reporters, “We’re going to ensure it remains the finest performing arts facility of its kind anywhere in the world.”
The New York Times reported that he also said, “What I know best in the world is construction. The best way to do it is close it, do it properly and reopen it, have a grand reopening. And when it’s finished it’s going to be far better than it was when it was originally built.”
During its meeting, which was held at the White House, the Kennedy Center board also approved the appointment of Matt Floca as CEO and executive director. Floca replaces Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who resigned last Friday.
Trump confirmed Grenell’s departure and said that Floca would be his replacement, following a board vote, on Truth Social last week. “Ric Grenell has done an excellent job in helping to coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition period, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done,” Trump said in the post.
The Kennedy Center has been a focus of Trump’s remaking of the nation’s capital during his second presidential administration, which has also included controversial renovations of the White House and its grounds and cracking down on the exhibitions and displays at the Smithsonian Institution and at US national monuments and other sites administered by the National Park Service.
Over the course of just over a year, Trump has ousted much of the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership, appointed a new board that elected him as chairman, and attempted to add his name to the organization’s official title, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. (The organization was renamed as a “living memorial” to the assassinated president in 1964.) Though Trump’s name has been added to the center’s facade, the official name change is still legally dubious.
Several high-profile performers have canceled scheduled performances at the Kennedy Center in the wake of Trump’s takeover, including composer Philip Glass and the Martha Graham Dance Company earlier this year. The Washington National Opera also said it would look for a new home.
Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democrat of Ohio who is also an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, has filed suit against both Trump’s name change for the center and his proposed closure.
Filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the latter lawsuit says, “President Trump’s own words indicate that he is planning to demolish the existing Kennedy Center building. To state the obvious, Congress has not authorized either closing the center or conducting a ‘complete rebuilding.’”
Beatty’s lawsuit also sought to ensure that she could both attend Monday’s meeting and vote in it. A federal judge ruled that Beatty could attend, which she did, but did not require the board to allow her to cast a vote, according to the AP report. The Times reported that she did not cast a vote and cited a news release that the vote was unanimous.
In a press conference, per the Times, Beatty said, “I was very clear in advising them that while I’m not against renovations if they need to be done. I am totally against the process, it being unlawful, them not checking with Congress.”
