A bipartisan effort to ban the demolition of presidential memorials — including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — was blocked Monday night in the Senate by an objection from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), who led the effort with fellow Democrats and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), sought to pass the bill by unanimous consent, a procedure that allows a motion or action unless a single senator objects.
Merkley and Murkowski lead the appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the center, the Interior Department and the National Park Service.
Fears that the Kennedy Center could be demolished have grown in recent weeks. The Trump administration had previously described demolition as a hypothetical consequence of failing to renovate the 55-year-old building.
In an August court filing, Justice Department lawyers representing the center argued that, without Trump’s leadership, fundraising and proposed renovation, the building would deteriorate into an “unsafe, decrepit structure” that would eventually be “required to be taken down.” They floated replacing it with a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River, while acknowledging that such a replacement would “fail to adequately honor” President John F. Kennedy.
The center’s leader has declared in court the building will not be demolished.
But earlier this month, Trump warned that the performing arts venue could eventually be “ripped down” without his intervention. Hours later, he was photographed aboard Air Force One examining a large printout about the center whose partially visible title appeared to read “Kennedy Center DEMOLIS[HED].”
A day later, a judge ordered center officials to provide 30 days’ notice of any demolition plans.
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