House panel votes to name Kennedy Center opera house for Melania Trump
More: Trump names a new head of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in DC: himself
"The Republicans snuck in, I think, something that is slightly divisive, which is renaming one section of the Kennedy Center after a family member of this administration," Pingree said.
The committee voted 33-25 to adopt the name change as part of a larger amendment. The full House and the Senate would still have to vote on the proposal approved by the Appropriations Committee as part of the spending bill for the interior, environment and other agencies.
But the move reflected support from Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress. The theater would be named the "First Lady Melania Trump Opera House" if the legislations becomes law.
Lawmakers have already agreed to spend $256.7 million on improvements to the Kennedy Center by 2029, as part of President Donald Trump's legislative priorities. The House subcommittee was voting on $37.2 million in routine annual funding for the center for the year starting Oct. 1.
"The Republicans have now given the president six times the normal amount of money to run the Kennedy Center, carte blanche over who will be on the board, and how different parts of the Kennedy Center - or perhaps the whole Kennedy Center itself- will be named," Pingree said.
Trump dismissed much of the Kennedy Center's board after he took office and designated himself chairman. He criticized drag performances and said after the cancelation of one theatre engagement that he "never liked 'Hamilton' very much."
"We'll make it great again," Trump said during a tour in March. "I'm very disappointed when I look around. The bottom line: It has tremendous potential."
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