WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice sought a brief extension of a court-ordered deadline requiring the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, citing weather-related safety concerns for workers carrying out the task, according to court filings and public statements released late Friday.
The request came hours before a midnight deadline imposed by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who ruled in May that the Kennedy Center’s renaming to include Trump’s name was unlawful because only Congress has the authority to change the federally established institution’s name. The Justice Department asked the court to extend the deadline until Saturday afternoon, saying thunderstorms in the Washington area had delayed work on the building’s exterior signage.
According to the filing, government attorneys said adverse weather conditions posed safety risks to crews assigned to remove the lettering from the building’s facade. The administration indicated that the work would be completed in the early hours of Saturday if additional time were granted.
Judge Cooper denied requests to stay or pause his earlier ruling while appeals proceed, finding that the government had not demonstrated sufficient grounds to delay compliance, according to court documents and media reports. A federal appeals court later declined an emergency request to halt the order, leaving the original deadline in place.
The legal dispute stems from a lawsuit brought by U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty, who challenged a decision by the Kennedy Center’s board to rename the institution. Cooper ruled that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” according to court filings cited by multiple news organizations.
Before the deadline, the Kennedy Center had already removed references to Trump from portions of its website, correspondence and other materials as part of its compliance efforts. The board, however, continued pursuing legal avenues to overturn or delay the ruling.
Workers erected scaffolding around the building on Friday and began removing the exterior signage early Saturday, several hours after the court-imposed deadline expired. Photographs and video from the scene showed crews taking down letters bearing Trump’s name from the facade.
As of Saturday, the Justice Department’s request for a short extension had not altered the court’s underlying order, and removal of the signage was underway. Appeals challenging the ruling remained pending, while the Kennedy Center continued restoring references to its congressionally established name.
