# The Kennedy Center board votes to shut the doors

> A ceiling falls, a name comes down, and the nation's memorial to JFK is headed for a two-year blackout.
- Title: The Kennedy Center board votes to shut the doors · ABC News
- Summary: A ceiling falls, a name comes down, and the nation's memorial to JFK is headed for a two-year blackout. The fight over the Kennedy Center is no longer about…
- Keywords: kennedy center, trump, courts, arts funding, washington, news, Kennedy, Center, board, votes, shut, doors
- Source: ABC News — https://abcnews.com/Politics/kennedy-center-boards-meeting-exclusively-focus-closure-court/story?id=136454609
- Author: ABC News
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: kennedy center, trump, courts, arts funding, washington, news
## One item on the agenda
The Kennedy Center board's Tuesday meeting will focus only on the "necessary closure" of the building, the Trump administration told a federal court in an overnight filing.
## The honors resolution vanishes
A draft resolution proposing ten new ways to honor Trump was pulled from consideration. Center official Joe LaFauci told the board it still "stands by" its earlier vote recognizing the president.
## A ceiling comes down
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posted security video of a partial ceiling collapse during a rainstorm this month. Debris crashed onto an empty red carpet.

> If a performance had been underway, patrons could have been killed.
## The name the judge removed
The board voted in December to put Trump's name on the outside of the building. In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered it taken down.
## A $285 million shutdown
Last month the board voted 23-3 to close the center for two years for a renovation, and to add Trump's name back as many as two more times.
## The money already exists
Congress appropriated $257 million for the project. The board argues Trump would raise another $100 million, and says without recognition he is unlikely to lead that rescue.

> The Board understands that without such appropriate recognition it is unlikely that President Trump will provide the fundamental oversight.
## What the statute forbids
Cooper is weighing whether renaming violates a law barring extra memorials at Washington's only memorial to John F. Kennedy. He holds a scheduling conference at 10 a.m.
## The lawsuit fights on
Rep. Joyce Beatty is suing over the closure and renaming. Her lawyer Norm Eisen welcomed the dropped resolution but called the immediate shutdown plan something they will fight.

> Trump & cronies back down on HALF of the crazy
## The stage went dark in July
Programming, which normally funds operations, effectively ended in early July. Ticket sales had been falling for months after the December renaming vote.
## Key takeaway

The fight over the Kennedy Center is no longer about a name on the facade. It is about whether the building stays open at all.