Fresh off a court victory preventing President Trump from slapping his name on the Kennedy Center, Rep. Joyce Beatty asked the judge on Wednesday to head off his plan for a two-year shutdown for renovations.
Ms. Beatty, Ohio Democrat, said the iconic performing arts facility was already turning people away, telling them construction has commenced. She told the judge overseeing the case that the shutdown is a violation of his past orders.
The congresswoman asked for an emergency hearing.
“It seems defendants may be violating the ’clear and unambiguous order of the court,’” her lawyers wrote in their emergency petition to Judge Christopher Cooper.
Judge Cooper on Tuesday shot down the center’s second attempt to add President Trump’s name to the facility, saying the law reserves that honor for former President John F. Kennedy.
The center had proposed adding Mr. Trump’s name to a plaza in the center, and inscribing it on other parts of the center. But Judge Cooper said those were all forbidden.
In an earlier order, he had also barred the center from closing down for renovations, saying the board cut too many corners.
The board took a mulligan and tried again with a new shutdown vote on Tuesday.
But Ms. Beatty, the congresswoman who is also an ex officio member of the board, said the judge’s previous ruling specifically barred any shutdown until Judge Cooper lifts the injunction.
Mr. Trump says the Kennedy Center is falling apart and needs massive renovations. He wants the facility shut down for two years.
He said on social media Tuesday, however, that he will not allow the work to begin unless the center adds his name. He said he’s willing to take the fight to the Supreme Court if necessary.
His opponents question the extent of the repairs he plans and worry he’ll ruin the beauty of the building. They also question the decision for a total shutdown, saying it should be possible to keep one of the two main theaters open to allow performances to continue.
Ms. Beatty has gotten under Mr. Trump’s skin with her ability to thwart his wishes.
The congresswoman said the president, who is chairman of the board and has filled the panel with loyalists, lit into her during Tuesday’s meeting.
“The president threw a tantrum,” she told CNN. “I was not going to let him tell me that he thought I was incompetent. So I responded by telling him I knew he was incompetent.”
She said Mr. Trump told her she would be personally to blame if someone was injured or killed by the deterioration at the Kennedy Center.
A video shared on social media by Mr. Trump and other government officials this week showed a 150-pound section of ceiling in the grand foyer collapse onto the floor. It happened during closing hours.
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