An Ohio congresswoman just won a major round in court against the Trump administration over the future of the nation’s most famous stage.
On Saturday, a federal judge ruled that the “Trump Kennedy Center” can’t keep Representative Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) in the dark any longer. Judge Christopher R. Cooper ordered the facility’s leadership to hand over secret plans and financial details to Beatty before a high-stakes board meeting this Monday.
Beatty, who serves as a trustee for the center because of her seat in Congress, sued after being blindsided by President Trump’s plan to shut the place down for two years starting this July.
She claimed the board was trying to “box her out” and even muted her microphone during a previous meeting where they added Trump’s name to the building.
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The judge’s order is a mixed bag, but it gives Beatty the two things she needed most for Monday’s meeting at the White House:
- The Paper Trail: The center has 24 hours to give Beatty the budgets, timelines, and expert reports they’ve been using to justify a “complete rebuilding” of the facility.
- A Seat at the Table: The board is legally banned from silencing Beatty. She must be given a “meaningful opportunity” to argue against the closure.
President Trump recently announced on social media that the center—now officially the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts”—needs to close for a massive, two-year renovation to fix what he called a “tired, broken, and dilapidated” building.
Judge Cooper didn’t hold back in his opinion, calling the government’s attempt to hide information from a sitting trustee “bordering on preposterous.” He noted that if the President has already lined up financing and spent a year reviewing plans with experts, there’s no reason the rest of the board shouldn’t see those documents.
While Beatty won the right to see the plans and speak her mind, she didn’t win everything. The judge declined to force the board to let her vote on Monday, though he hinted that the move to strip her of her voting rights last year was likely illegal.
The board will meet on Monday to make the final call on the July 4th shutdown. For now, the Ohio representative will be heading into the room with the facts in her hand.
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