GOP senator blocks effort to bar Trump from demolishing Kennedy Center

A Republican senator squashed a bipartisan push to prohibit the Trump administration from demolishing the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who lead the Senate panel that oversees funding for the Kennedy Center, tried to pass a bill that would require an act of Congress to demolish any national memorials that honor a president. An objection from a single senator can block a bill from being passed by unanimous consent.

The bill – dubbed the "Protecting Presidential Memorials Act" – would also apply to Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. But Merkley and Murkowski made their immediate goal clear.

"This has of course to do with the president planning to demolish the Kennedy Center," Merkley said on the Senate floor late Monday evening, Sept. 28, after the passing of the Protect College Sports Act , a major overhaul to college athletics related to NIL (name, image and likeliness) payment for student athletes.

Lee's office said in a statement to USA TODAY that this effort should go through "the appropriate committee process."

"Democrats should join us in lowering the cost of living and securing American elections instead of wasting the Senate's time with partisan scaremongering," Lee said in the statement shared by communications director Billy Gribbin.

Trump's naming campaign, from the Kennedy Center to Trump RX

From Lake America to buildings and institutions bearing Trump's name, see the places, landmarks and public spaces tied to the president's branding campaign. Pictured here, a map labeling Lake Ontario as " Lake America " is displayed as President Donald Trump signs an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" on Aug. 27, 2026, amid an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada. See what Trump has renamed or attached his name to.

The Senate vote is the latest chapter in a year of legal wrangling and congressional wrangling over the Kennedy Center.

The Kennedy Center added Trump's name to the building's facade in December 2025 after the board – which was handpicked by Trump – voted to rename the center. In June 2026, a judge ordered that his name be taken down, saying that an act of Congress was needed to change the name of the memorial to the assassinated president.

Trump's name has since been removed , but a tarp remains covering the building's name where Trump's name used to be.

Earlier in September, the Kennedy Center closed after part of the ceiling collapsed , and on Sept. 15 the center's board voted to close the center for two years.

That came after a federal judge's second ruling that Trump's name could not be added to the building in September 2026, the culmination of months of legal disputes as the president contended that the center needed to be renovated, that only he could raise the money for it and that his administration should be recognized for it.

Trump has continued to defend his stance about his name being on the building, saying on Sept. 18 that the center had "been a dump" and "lost money" for years. He said that he would subsidize the necessary repairs but said that his administration should be recognized.

Merkley accused the president of wanting to demolish the center, pointing to an i mage captured of Trump inside Air Force One reading a poster that appears to say "Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED." The photo was taken hours after Trump told reporters that the memorial will "end up being ripped down" unless major renovations are undertaken.