YES!! JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP TO TURN OVER DOCUMENTS USED TO JUSTIFY “COMPLETE REBUILDING” OF KENNEDY CENTER!
This past Saturday (yes, on the *weekend*) a Federal judge ordered Trump (the named defendant) and the administration to turn over documents that are being used to justify shutting down the Kennedy Center for two years, in order to conduct, and I quote, a “complete rebuilding” of the Kennedy Center. (Full opinion and order included for Notes from the Front members.)
Here’s what’s going on:
There are two types of trustees on the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center: those that are appointed by the president, and then those which are appointed by the statute creating the Kennedy Center (known as “ex officio” board members). The ex officio board members are designated by *position* (such as the “Mayor of D.C.”, etc.), and include seats for Congressional representatives.
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty is a representative from Ohio who fills one of those positions, in other words she is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board of trustees.
For the most part, ever since the founding of the Kennedy Center (originally named the National Cultural Center and established in 1958) the ex officio board members have been considered voting members, and have in fact voted on Kennedy Center board business.
That all changed when Trump appointed himself to the board, replaced certain board members, had himself voted chairman, and tried to change the name of the Kennedy Center by adding his name (only Congress can do that).
At the end of a meeting in December, which Beatty was attending remotely, “to Beatty’s surprise, it was announced at the end of the meeting that Board would vote on whether to add Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center title. Beatty tried to voice her opposition to the announcement, but found herself involuntarily muted.” Unable to unmute herself, “The Board took a vote and declared the result “unanimous”: The Center would be renamed.”
So on December 22, 2025, Beatty filed a lawsuit challenging the renaming of the Kennedy Center.
But there was another surprise in store for Beatty and others: Trump’s announcement on February 1st that he would be closing the Kennedy Center for two years for “complete rebuilding”.
Beatty wrote to Trump asking to see the documents on which Trump was relying in order to justify the closure and rebuilding, including, for example, expert reports, contracts, a list of the performance contracts that would be impacted by the closure, etc..
The silence was deafening.
At the end of February Beatty learned from another of the ex officio members that there was to be a special meeting at the White House on March 16 (so, yes, today), to discuss the proposed closure. Beatty hadn’t even received an invitation (although later she found it in her spam folder – if the White House would like me to consult to them about deliverability….), and hadn’t received any of the requested documents to support the closure and, in any event, had no reason to think that they would not mute her and would not allow her to vote again.
So on March 6th Beatty amended her complaint to also include the proposed closure and rebuild, and the failure to produce the requested documents, and she also filed a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) regarding the same (also included for Notes from the Front members).
This brings us to Saturday, when Judge Christopher Cooper issued a 37-page opinion and order requiring Trump to cough up the information related to the proposed closure, and to allow Beatty to attend the meeting *and* to be given an opportunity to speak (but *not* necessarily to vote, because the Court found that she would not suffer irreparable harm by not being allowed to vote – irreparable harm is a requirement for a TRO).
That meeting, which is happening right now (or will have just happened, depending on when you read this), will *not* include the final vote, which will, by all accounts, take place behind closed doors at some point in the near future.
Notes from the Front members: Judge Cooper’s 37-page opinion and order, along with Beatty’s TRO request, are in your inbox now.
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https://annepmitchell.substack.com/p/yes-judge-orders-trump-to-turn-over
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