In a ruling Friday, District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the cessation of all repair plans for the Kennedy Center and the removal of Trump’s name from the building within two weeks. It is a detailed and comprehensive opinion, but I believe that Judge Cooper is wrong on the cessation of repairs.
I previously expressed skepticism over the claim that the board could order such a change unilaterally. At that time, I raised the very issues that Judge Cooper cited in his rejection of the right to rename the Center without congressional approval.
I agree with the court on its standing decision (which is hardly a surprise given my past writings in favor of broader standing).
However, the opinion becomes more challengeable when the court addresses the decision to close the Center for two years to carry out major renovations. The opinion is rife with digs at President Donald Trump for his social media postings and his unilateral plan for a ballroom. Judge Cooper editorializes that “Especially after the demolition of the East Wing of the White House— which occurred out of the blue a few months after President Trump pledged that construction would not ‘interfere with’ and would ‘pay[] total respect to the existing building’—there has been understandable concern that the Kennedy Center may be the next target of the wrecking ball.”
Judge Cooper accepts that the Center is long overdue for major renovations and that the Board had the authority to order them. He further rejects the sweeping claims of litigants that Trump was planning to effectively raze the Center: “The evidence before the Court does not demonstrate that the Center is poised for wholesale destruction and rebuilding, à la the East Wing.”
However, Cooper rules that the Board could not have given the decision sufficient time or attention in carrying out the plan. He declared that “None of the board members had sufficient information in advance of the March 16 meeting to make a well-considered decision to close the center.”
The court’s tight analysis is lost in supporting the cessation of repairs. While he acknowledges that such repairs have long been planned and studied, he cites differing statements on the plan to continue operations before a later decision to close the Center. The court finds that the record illustrates a failure to fulfill the fiduciary duty of the board and Chair:
“Whatever happened during that purported four-month incubation period, Board input was, most evidently, an afterthought. Trustees learned about the plan to close the Center at the same time as the general public, by social media post. Deprived of time and information, they had no meaningful opportunity to consider perhaps the most momentous decision in the Center’s lifetime since it opened in 1971.”
That analysis is heavily laden with assumptions on the lack of consideration of the Board. The same approach could be used to set aside an array of board decisions that do not evidence sufficient concern or scrutiny for the satisfaction of a judge.
Judge Cooper seems to recognize how far the court was taking its own authority in countermanding the decision:
“The Court appreciates that, in both the charitable and corporate spheres, board meetings are often scripted affairs… The Court should not be heard to suggest that trustees must scrutinize every piece of prefatory work that has been done, or labor through the night debating the relative merits of their decisions in order to discharge their fiduciary duties— especially where, as here, a board is large and comprised of members who may not be well schooled in the subject matter before them. “
Yet, the court still concludes that this Board “seems to have fallen grossly short of prudent decision-making.” That seems far too subjective and fluid a standard for federal courts to micromanage executive branch decision-making.
For example, Judge Cooper recognizes that lawyers were present at the critical meeting, but suggests that they were not relied upon enough due to the lack of direct statements preserved on the record. Since when is there an obligation for counsel to speak and be memorialized in such records? The court writes:
“Where were the lawyers? The answer appears to be “nowhere.” The Center’s General Counsel and Associate General Counsel were present at the March 16 Board Meeting but, according to the minutes, did not speak. There is, further, nothing in the record to indicate that the Board relied on any legal advice in reaching the closure decision. It goes without saying that, for all his background in project management and construction, Mr. Floca is no legal expert.”
Yet, the court answered its own question. Where were the lawyers? They were there. There is simply no record of their views expressed in this meeting as opposed to other conversations or inquiries. Moreover, lawyers give advice, not commands, to political appointees. The court seems entirely adrift in reading the lack of such references as proof that the decision was made without legal guidance or consultation. Finally, given the thrust and tenor of the decision, I doubt seriously that a notation reading “the lawyers stated that they agreed with this plan” would have made any material difference to the court.
For his part, President Trump was equally sweeping and unrestrained in his response. He declared that he would order the Commerce Department to transfer the Center to Congress “so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.”
Given that Judge Cooper’s order on the cessation of repairs may be reversed, it is unnecessary unless the naming of the Center is the overriding consideration. In either case, it would make little sense for the Center to be placed under the supervision of Congress. It would be appropriate for Congress to address the naming question as well as potentially being heard on the need for a closure.
In the end, I thought that the court’s cessation analysis conveyed ample reasons, but Judge Cooper himself (and others) may be unhappy with how the decision was made. It is less clear why that should matter. There are ample reasons to close the Center to facilitate what the court acknowledges will be extensive and major renovations. That construction can only be facilitated and expedited if there is not a simultaneous need to keep a substantial part of the Center operating for the public.
The Administration should appeal the decision and may soon be able to resume work on the Center, regardless of its name.
Here is the opinion: Beaty v. Trump
So, the judge has effectively made himself the construction manager of the needed repair work at the Kennedy Center? (What a large fund of knowledge he has!).
He has ordered the work halted, even as he concedes it is needed. Have I got that right? Plaintiff made no showing that the repairs aren’t needed, or are being done wrong, right?
So why have they been halted by order of the judge?
That’s the overstep. And it’s a giant tell.
Given Trump’s grandiose narcissistic personality disorder, his motivation for ordering major renovations to the Kennedy Center was because he had attached his own name to it. Trump was no doubt envisioning an over-the-top civic testament to himself with the renovations. If the Center’s name change goes away, so will Trump’s interest in repairing the complex.
I see both sides here. Public buildings need repairs, but major changes deserve a careful process, especially when a place carries so much history. I once lived near a theater undergoing renovation, and even a small closure affected local cafés, staff, and regular visitors. It reminded me of reading zillow reviews before moving: the details people overlook at first often matter later. Keeping the center open while plans are reviewed seems reasonable to me. Repairs should continue when necessary, but the timeline, costs, and impact deserve a transparent discussion. Thoughtful decisions age better than rushed ones, particularly with cultural landmarks.
In establishing the “Progressive” Dual State system, one should also note the Plaintiff in this suit is Joyce Marie Beatty (née Birdsong, U.S. representative for Ohio’s 3rd congressional district and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 2021 to 2023) using a political
This plaintiff is also in a organization promoting bigotry by its very name – “Congressional Black Caucus”. Imagine if there was a “Congressional White Caucus” or a “Congressional Men’s Caucus”.
In this case, it is a political attack using a Oswald Rothaug type jurist, Judge Christopher Cooper who would make Walter Buch proud with his support and lawfare foundation in America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Buch
This form of idealism has persistent historical repercussion – and it is a tool in the Dual State system. The dual state is a model in which the functioning of a state is divided into a normative state, which operates according to set rules and regulations, and a prerogative state, “which exercises unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees”. The term was coined by Ernst Fraenkel to describe the functioning of the Nazi state, and especially law in National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party Germany, which he described in his 1941 book The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_state_(model)
The Judge was correct–and, there’s nothing partisan about His Honor pointing out that Trump tore down part of the White House without any consideration for the fact that it belongs to the people–not him, and that it is an historic structure, with substantive changes requiring approval. Trump is SO desperate to have a legacy that he doesn’t deserve. Because he surrounds himself with fawning syncophants, no one has apparently explained to him that a favorable legacy is conferred after it has been earned–it cannot be self-created. Or, maybe, he is just so hungry for adulation that he doesn’t care. Once he is gone, we will strip away the gold embelishments, tear down the ballroom, strip the blue paint from the reflecting pool and tear down the arch, if it gets built–because WE didn’t and don’t approve of these things and we don’t want them. A judge has already ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the JFK Center for Performing Arts. Of course, Trump is appealing. Trump is trying to get repealed the law that no living person’s visage can be placed on US currency–because he NEEDS his image on a new $250 bill. He has added his image to new passports, too. He hasn’t been joking about adding his image to Mount Rushmore. Not going to happen.
The legacy Trump will have is that he has awakened us to the just how much we in America have depended on patriotism and good faith in our operations. Before he came along, we didn’t have to worry about things like the peaceful transfer of power, or the President using the DOJ and FBI as tools to get revenge, or the POTUS suing the federal government to get money to reward his fans for trying to start an insurrection on his behalf because he lost an election or whether the POTUS would simply refuse to accept the fact that he lost an election and would demand that his fans seek vindication. We never had to worry before about the power of the DOJ, FBI and regulatory agencies being used by the Executive against perceived enemies, and we were confident that the oath to the Constitution means something, and that the government’s operations should be non-partisan. Prior presidents honored the fact that the federal government does not exist to pay him homage or do the bidding of the Executive Branch, and we have always relied on the checks and balances that were deliberately built into our system of government so that no one branch wields too much power. Now, we know better.
Trump has tried to hitch his wagon to the Kennedy star, by bringing RFK Jr. in his administration and co-opting JFK’s Center For the Performing Arts by putting his name above that of Jack Kennedy. That act alone speaks volumes to his utter desperation for adulation and the fact that he KNOWS he hasn’t earned it. He has managed to set a record for low approval ratings. Even some in MAGA media are turning against him, pointing out that Netanyahu had tried to get previous presidents, including Bush, Obama and Biden, to fall for the “Iran is about to nuke you” lie. This was as just a cover for the US starting a bombing campaign in the Middle East so Israel could start bombing Lebanon and stealing territory—just like it did with Gaza. The 250th celebration is an utter disaster–with acts cancelling right and left–not wanting to have their talent used for Trump’s glorification. It’s really sad.
“unless naming of the Center is the overriding consideration”
This has been a deployed TDS detector and the judge has been exposed as infected.
Similar mechanisms have been deployed where people are tricked into exposing themselves as racist, anti-semetic, radical, anti-american, etc.
Trump is like an allergy test.
Trump does not have to deploy a TDS detector.
The left will rant that ANYTHING he does is lawless and totalitarian.
If he saved a child from a burning building – left wing nuts would sue to put the child back in the burning building.
This whole case is “much ado about nothing”.
What here matters ?
Renovate Kennedy Center – don’t – no oxes actually gored either way.
Personally I am offended – because Kennedy Center should be sold out of the federal govenrment.
Not renovated by it.
But I am not going to get the libertopia I want.
I am not dying my hair pink wearing pu$$y hats, and throwing frozen water bottles at law enforcement because I am not getting my way.
What you’re saying is you don’t have an argument.
What you are saying is that you don’t have anything to say without first reading AI.
Please refer to the comment I was responding to which was about TDS – which is the core of my response.
With respect to everything Kennedey Center related – my argument is:
“Because the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, see Art. II, §1, cl. 1, he may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf, subject to narrow exceptions recognized by our precedents….The stay reflects our judgment that the Government is likely to show that both the NLRB and MSPB exercise considerable executive power.”
Supreme court of the united states – May 22, 2025.
And it is NOT an argument – it is the Final Word.
“If he saved a child from a burning building – left wing nuts would sue to put the child back in the burning building.”
Let’s see him try. He didn’t even flinch when a guy right beside him collapsed to the floor. Didn’t call for anyone to get aid, took zero leadership of the situation in telling others to clear a path if the person needed medical aid. Nada. Does not care what happens to anyone. Never said anything meaningful about the fireman killed when the assassin missed him. At most a shrug.
I would think you are paid to produce better arguments than that, but Russia is struggling for funds right now. Best of luck comrade.
“Let’s see him try. He didn’t even flinch when a guy right beside him collapsed to the floor. Didn’t call for anyone to get aid, took zero leadership of the situation in telling others to clear a path if the person needed medical aid. Nada.”
I have no idea what incident you are referring to – but there is video from several Trump rallies of Trump directing emergency services to someone in the audience that was having difficulties.
Outside the left it is well known that Trump reads stories of people with difficulties – and sends them a check.
“Never said anything meaningful about the fireman killed when the assassin missed him. At most a shrug.”
The assassin did not “miss him” – he hit Trump’s ear. He missed his head.
Trump has frequently said things about the fireman who was killed.
“I would think you are paid to produce better arguments than that,”
Given that your claims have been FALSE, I think you should look in a mirror.
Regardless, no one is paying me – but I will be happy to accept payment.
“but Russia is struggling for funds right now.”
Might that be because Trump has starved them for oil revenue, and because he has cut off the 40% of munitions that they have been getting from … Iran ?
Judge Cooper editorializes that “Especially after the demolition of the East Wing of the White House— which occurred out of the blue a few months after President Trump pledged that construction would not ‘interfere with’ and would ‘pay[] total respect to the existing building’—there has been understandable concern that the Kennedy Center may be the next target of the wrecking ball.”
The judge is lying. The President never made any pledges about the East Wing. He pledged that construction would not interfere with the existing White House building, and would pay it total respect and he fulfilled his pledge. The construction work has not even touched the White House. Not one scratch.
Trump wants to “repair” the building the same way he wasn’t going to touch the East Wing of the White House.
They will start some minor demolition and soon level the building on the grounds that Trump knows a guy who can build a better one, one which will be named Trump’s Imperial Opera House.
This will avoid the fact that the current structure has a Congressionally applied name that this ruling uses to get Trump’s name off it.
Entirely new building though? Trump Trump Trump Trump, gouged into it on every possible surface.
Trump wants to “repair” the building the same way he wasn’t going to touch the East Wing of the White House.
You are a liar. The President never said anything about not touching the East Wing. He said the work would not touch the White House, and it didn’t. The White House remains exactly as it was, not one thing changed or damaged.
The East Wing of the White House. It’s a wing, not a separate building or it would not have been called a wing. If I cut the wing off a bird one would not say the wing had not been part of the bird.
Millhouse, the question is, would you be drinking the poisoned drink or be holding the gun to force others to do so? That’s the depth you are in with the Trump cult.
Ok no shutdown of the Kennedy Center. Oh BTW that means no repairs.$ saved. Im fine with that.
Just sell it and let it privately become a non-profit or even for profit venue.
Frankly GIVE IT AWAY.
I am not opposed to the “Kennedy Center”
I am opposed to the federal government subsidizing entertainment.
Just as I would oppose a federal NetFlix.
While I doubt your claim will occur – even if it did – that is fully within the power of the executive.
Federal buildings are renovated, demolished, rebuilt all the time.
What Trump can not do is eliminate the “Kennedy Center for the performing arts” as a federal entity.
Congress created that – only Congress can get rid of it.
Can Trump rename it – I beleive he likely constitutionally can. But he may lose that fight in the courts.
Regardless the name is a minor issue.
All the of what he is actually doing – and much more – is well within his executive powers.
If you do not like that – vote accordingly, and seek to have Congress thwart his actions.
Or elect a democrat president and do differently what Trump has done.
Regardless, this is a tiny issue that the left is wigging out over – you wig out over everything Trump does, even things you would have done yourself.
Do you think there would have been a huge uproar if Obama or Biden renovated the Kennedy Center ?
Do you think there would have been an uproar is they added a Ballroom to the White House ?
Put up a big sign saying “CLOSED! REPAIRS STOPPED BY ORDER OF JUDGE COOPER!” with a big picture of the judge.
Then let it rot.
Add: ‘Obama Judge’
Credit (or blame) where it is due.
Trump is uninterested in repairing the structure. He wants to raze the building and replace it with a palace dedicated to himself.
In the next 2 years it won’t rot. It’s clear how poorly the swimming pool treatment of the Reflecting Pool has been going; best to keep Trump away from any construction/destruction.
Among his suggested repairs was replacing the padded fabric arms of the audience seats with cold, sharp edged, marble.
There are a great many reasons chair arms aren’t made of marble, but Trump knows he will never be in those seats, so hurting the audience doesn’t matter to him except as a goal.
The DOJ just asked Judge Eleanor Ross to recuse herself. It’s an elections case. Judicial Report is public. She attended a Fani Willis campaign event.
^^^ These people don’t have the temperament for these positions. Law schools might consider this character type as unsuitable. Defense attorneys can be wild and crazy guys?
Hotlanta hoochie mamas.
Ross was allegedly having sex with a Sheriff in her chambers on a continuing basis. Loud enough that the staff could hear.
When in such conditions always leave asap. Don’t even grab a coat or pack a bag.