Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) blocked a bipartisan bill that would have prohibited the destruction of any national memorial honoring a U.S. president — a measure meant to protect the Kennedy Center from a full demolition — without congressional approval.
The proposed bill, led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), comes after President Donald Trump threatened to have the performing arts facility “ripped down” if he does not receive explicit recognition for the more than $250 million renovation project for the center.
The senators attempted to pass the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act Monday evening through a process known as unanimous consent — a procedure that allows legislation to bypass typical Senate rules unless a lawmaker objects. The one-page bill would have blocked any potential demolition of the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Memorial and Thomas Jefferson Memorial, memorials that pay homage to U.S. presidents, without an act of Congress.
But Lee objected to the bill’s passage when Merkley brought it to the floor.
Trending
“Unfortunately, a colleague objected to this common-sense bill,” Merkley said in a statement released Monday. “Trump’s threats are straight out of the authoritarian playbook and should infuriate every American who values our nation’s history and the rule of law.”
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) and Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) also co-sponsored the legislation.
“Democrats should join us in lowering the cost of living and securing American elections instead of wasting the Senate’s time with partisan scaremongering they haven’t even tried to run through the appropriate committee process,” Lee wrote in a statement to The Washington Sun about his objection.
The morning after Lee blocked the bill, Merkley and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) introduced it in both the House and Senate.
“For Donald Trump to attempt to usurp this great memorial by putting his own name above JFK’s — and then threaten to demolish the building if he doesn’t get his way — is beyond the pale,” Pingree said in a press release. “When Congress designates a place to memorialize a president, no administration should be able to tear it down on a whim. This bill establishes a simple safeguard: if Congress created the designation, only an act of Congress can authorize its demolition.”
Trump has unwaveringly pursued a more than $250 million renovation project for the center that he has claimed is in a “virtual state of collapse,” despite mounting concerns from lawmakers and the public about shuttering the iconic D.C. landmark for two years. The performing arts center has been closed since Sept. 15, and a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to give the court 30 days’ notice before moving forward with any demolition project.
The president has taken specific issue with the court blocking the addition of his name, in various capacities, to the front facade of the building.
In a 71-page brief filed Monday, the Justice Department — which is representing Trump in his ongoing legal battle over the center — argued that the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees’ previous votes to affix Trump’s name to the building had been struck down in “error.”
“Further, the recognition of the President’s contributions does not constitute a ‘memorial’ as that word is ordinarily understood in this context, and thus the statutory prohibition does not apply,”
DOJ attorney Brett Shumate argued. “Instead, it merely serves to acknowledge the Trump Administration’s, and President Trump’s, present and future efforts to renovate and restore the Center. Such acknowledgements of major donors are common at similar facilities, and
Congress did not prohibit such a sensible recognition here.”
Shumate also asserted the center has become “dangerously dilapidated” and “fundamentally unsafe to employees and patrons alike,” and Trump’s efforts are the “sole hope for the Center’s financial survival and structural renewal.”
Author
Contributor
