A federal judge says he will make a decision as quickly as possible on issues surrounding the future of the Kennedy Center, which President Donald Trump has said he plans to close starting this summer for major renovations.
In an emergency hearing Thursday afternoon before U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, attorneys for Ohio Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who is a trustee on the Kennedy Center board, asked for court orders on two main topics.
For one, Beatty asked the White House to immediately provide her with the details and documents about the proposed closing and renovations that are expected to be voted on Monday at 12:30 p.m.
Thursday’s hearing was part of a lawsuit Beatty filed in December to stop Trump’s efforts to rename the performing arts center.
Her attorney, Norman Eisen, said this is not a routine renovation.
“We are talking here about a vote where absolutely no information has been provided about shuttering and demolishing a substantial part (of) our nation’s performing arts treasure,” he said.
Justice Department attorney William Jankowski told the judge that the federal government is hesitating to provide Beatty with those materials because they want to give out the most accurate information before the meeting and, “it could take up to that moment to get materials out.”
Beatty is also asking the judge to issue an order that would clear the way for her to speak at the meeting. She said she was prevented from speaking at a Kennedy Center board meeting in December where a vote was taken to change the name of the Kennedy Center to the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
“I am hopeful that I will be able to express myself, based on the information that I hear then or I receive before. But I will be vocal,” Beatty said.
Nathaniel Zelinsky, with the Washington Litigation Group, suggested in the hearing that there is no reason to believe March 16 meeting will be any different.
“The next thing you know, the bulldozers are at the front door,” he said.
Cooper said he’ll make a ruling quickly and may also decide on a request from Beatty for a restraining order that would halt the Trump administration from firing Kennedy Center employees and canceling performances, and would pause any other steps toward closing, renovating or demolishing any part of the Kennedy Center.
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