Kennedy Center's board votes to close the main building while the naming case is on appeal

The name the board voted to replace was itself set by statute. Lyndon Johnson signed the John F. Kennedy Center Act in January 1964, changing the name from the National Cultural Center and providing $23 million in federal funds for construction ^[13]. Congress had created the institution six years earlier, in the National Cultural Center Act that Eisenhower signed in 1958 ^{[11] [18]}. The federal judge's ruling followed from that history: because Congress created the center, changing its name requires congressional approval ^[6].

Construction money came from both sides of that arrangement. The 1964 act carried $23 million in federal funds, and the fundraising campaign that John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis led was $30 million ^{[13] [14]}. Federal money was about 43 percent of the $53 million those two figures add to ^[17].

Two accounts of Tuesday's vote sit in the same article. Business Insider's headline says the board voted to close until Trump's name is added ^[19]. Roma Daravi, the center's vice president of public relations, told Business Insider that "The Board's decision today reflects sound judgment and a clear prioritization of safety above all else" ^[7], and described the renovations to the main building as "long overdue and desperately needed to protect the safety of patrons, artists, and staff" ^[8].

The renovation closure is not new ground in this litigation. The injunction that blocked the renaming also blocked closing the performance space for renovations ^[5], and the case is now at the DC Circuit ^[10]. The article does not say whether Tuesday's vote falls within the scope of that injunction. A skeptic will point out that a building open since September 1971 can need urgent work whatever is on the nameplate ^[15], and that is true. The question in front of the appeals court is who decides when it closes, and the district judge has already answered part of it ^[6].

The trustees who voted are the ones Trump installed after firing the center's president and the Biden-appointed members of the board ^[1]. The 1958 act established the center as an independent institution with a mission to host arts and cultural events and educational programming ^[12]. December's renaming vote went ahead despite lingering questions about its legality ^[9]. The board voted to close before the appeals court ruled, so the closure takes effect while the naming question is unresolved ^{[2] [10]}.