The Kennedy Center reportedly adopted bylaws earlier this year that limit Donald Trump-appointed trustees from voting — a controversial move that reveals a long-stalled plan to install Trump’s name on the center.
In a possible violation of the organization’s charter, the bylaws were amended in May to specify that congressionally appointed board members, known as ex officio members, cannot vote or count toward a quorum, according to the Washington Post.
The new rule came into effect when the board voted unanimously on December 18 to add Trump’s name to the center, rebranding the building as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
A wave of protests has started after the name change. Actors have canceled bookings and members of Congress have vowed to reverse the name change. Joyce Beatty, Democrat of Ohio, is suing to overturn it on the grounds that it would require an act of Congress to change the center’s name.
Trump took over as chairman of the board in February, quickly purging sitting members, while installing his supporters — including his longtime foreign policy adviser Rick Grenell, whom he appointed as the center’s chairman. Grenell has been an outspoken tribune of Trump’s “America First” ideology, and has not been afraid to ruffle feathers in past spells as ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence (he was the first openly gay person to lead the intelligence community).
Prior to his Kennedy Center appointment, Grenell served as the president’s envoy for special missions, and was involved in securing the release of Americans imprisoned in Venezuela.
The center lists 34 presidentially appointed board members and 23 ex officio members, which by law must include the mayor of Washington, D.C., the head of the Library of Congress, and the Senate majority and minority leaders. The federal law that oversaw the center’s establishment identified ex-officio members among the site’s trustees, who are charged with keeping it as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, the Post reported.
Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president for public relations, told the Post that the rules were changed based on a long-standing convention of ex-officio members not voting: “The bylaws were amended to reflect this long-standing precedent and all received technical changes before the meeting and after the amendment.”
Darawi continued: “Some members (including ex-officio) were present in person, others by phone, and no concerns were raised, no one objected, and the bylaws were passed unanimously.”
UCLA legal scholar Ellen April told the paper that such voting rights limits violate the center’s charter.
“Clearly the intent of the charter provisions was to delegate the direction of the Kennedy Center to a broader group, not just presidential appointees,” she said.
The revelations come as new figures show a sharp drop in television ratings for this year’s Kennedy Center Honors Awards. A record low audience of 3.01m watched this year’s broadcast of the annual honors awards – hosted by Trump himself – when it was screened by CBS, marking a sharp 25% drop from last year. The event included appearances by some of Trump’s favorite artists, including Gloria Gaynor, Kiss and George Strait.
As the cast canceled bookings, Trump posted a series of statements on social media Tuesday from supporters criticizing the lack of support for the Kennedy Family Center. Her posts on her Truth social network began hours after the Kennedy family announced the death of JFK’s granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg, who died of leukemia at the age of 35.
The Guardian has contacted the Kennedy Center for comment.
