House Republicans propose naming Kennedy Center's opera house after Melania Trump

CBS News

3 days ago

House Republicans on Tuesday advanced a measure that would rename the Kennedy Center for the Arts' opera house after first lady Melania Trump — as President Trump and his allies boost their influence over the D.C. cultural institution.
The proposed renaming was folded into an amendment to a bill that would set fiscal year 2026 funding levels for the Interior Department and several other federal agencies, including the Kennedy Center. The amendment — and the bill itself — were advanced by the House Appropriations Committee in a hearing Tuesday.
The renaming was authored by Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, who pointed to the first lady's role as honorary chair of the Kennedy Center board.
The renaming was not requested by the Trump administration, Simpson's communications director Lexi Hamel told CBS News in an email.
"Naming a theater after her is an excellent way to recognize her appreciation for the arts," Simpson, who chairs the Appropriations Committee's Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee, wrote in a statement.
The subcommittee's top Democrat, Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, criticized the renaming idea in Tuesday's hearing and said she was surprised to learn about it.
"The Republicans snuck in, I think, something that's slightly divisive, which is renaming one section of the Kennedy Center after a family member of this administration," she said.
CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment.
The nameplate over the opera house — which seats nearly 2,400 people and is one of several spaces in the Kennedy Center — is unlikely to change any time soon. Spending bills like the one advanced Tuesday generally need 60 votes to pass the Senate, meaning even if it makes it through the full House intact, several Senate Democrats will need to vote for it. Lawmakers also have until the end of September to pass funding measures in order to avert the possibility of a potential partial government shutdown.
But the idea follows a push by Mr. Trump to assert more control over the Kennedy Center.
Weeks after retaking office, Mr. Trump removed some members of the cultural institution's board of trustees and stocked the board with a range of Trump allies — including Attorney General Pam Bondi and country singer Lee Greenwood. Mr. Trump now serves as chairman of the Kennedy Center board, and his ally Richard Grenell, who also serves as the White House envoy for special missions, is the center's president.
The moves were partially intended to pivot the Kennedy Center away from what the president views as "woke culture," a source told CBS News earlier this year. Mr. Trump has publicly criticized some of the performances hosted by the center.
"NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST," he wrote on Truth Social in February.
The moves have drawn criticism, with the producers of musical megahit "Hamilton" calling off a slate of performances next year due to what it called "a new spirit of partisanship." Last month, the president and first lady attended a performance of "Les Miserables" at the Kennedy Center, drawing a mixture of cheers and boos.
Pingree criticized Republicans' handling of the Kennedy Center in Tuesday's hearing, arguing the party has given the president "carte blanche" over the cultural center. She pointed to the $256.7 million appropriated for the Kennedy Center over the next four years in the Trump-backed "big, beautiful bill" that passed earlier this month.
Simpson responded Tuesday, "Let me see if I got this straight: So, we're upset that we didn't fund the arts, but we're upset that we did fund the arts?"