‘What’s in a name? What we call a rose would smell just as sweet by any other name.” That question, posed by Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, now seems to consume much of Washington. At a Christmas party with a lot of Washington media, I was asked the question more succinctly and repeatedly as ‘can they do that?
Around Christmas, Ohio Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio member of the board, announced her lawsuit over the name change.
As a threshold issue, I will discuss the legal rather than policy basis for the change. Many of us were annoyed by the new name of the center, which was a memorial to an assassinated president. What people want to know, however, is whether the change can be challenged. The answer is yes, but its outcome will not necessarily be easy or certain.
The center was originally built by law in 1958 as a National Cultural Center. It was renamed the John F. Kennedy Center by act of Congress in 1964 as a living monument.
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Workers install Donald J. Trump above current signage at the Kennedy Center on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
The most important question is how that designation came about. It was codified in a statute passed by Congress. Titled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 20 USC 3, it states that “no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
There are exceptions in Articles 2 and 3 of the provision:
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“(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection does not apply to—
(A) a plaque in honor of a gift from abroad;
(B) a plaque on a theater seat or box recognizing the gift of such seat or box; And
(C) any inscription on the marble walls in the North or South Galleries, the Hall of States or the Hall of Nations recognizing a significant contribution; …
(3) For the purposes of this subsection, testimonials and benefit performances shall not be construed as memorials.”
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The language supports Congress’ intent to protect the monument from any changes or dilutions. The specificity of the plaque exceptions for donors suggests that other major changes, such as a name change, are prohibited under federal law. Moreover, the center is named by an act of Congress. It is difficult to find any authority of the board that could overturn or delegate this power.
President Donald Trump (L) presents actor Sylvester Stallone (R) with a 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees medal during a medal ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House on December 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)
There is a legitimate question as to whether a name change is an “additional memorial or plaque,” but it appears to be so. If a simple plaque for donors were to be expressly excluded, large letters dedicating the center to an additional person would seem to fall within the intent of Congress.
Still, the Trump administration could quote the servant Sampson from “Romeo and Juliet” and tell a court to “take it in whatever sense you want,” but the statute does not expressly say that name changes are a memorial.
Challengers could argue that, under the administration’s interpretation, every monument established by Congress, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Kennedy Presidential Library, could be renamed or hyphenated.
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If a court agrees that the statute reflects a clear intent by Congress to prohibit any modification to the memorial, the question is how this can be challenged.
In any legal challenge, the advantage likely lies with the challengers if they can meet the standing requirements.
Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and sister of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced: “Three years and a month from today, I’m going to grab a pickaxe and get those letters off that building, but I need help holding the ladder. Are you in? Apply for my carpenter’s card today, so it’s going to be a union job!!!”
I wouldn’t recommend that approach. Most lawyers strive to prevent their clients from falling from great heights.
The question is who has the opportunity to challenge the change. Were Kennedy family members injured in any concrete way to satisfy their status? The associative status of historic preservation groups can be tricky. However, some may test these waters soon.
The most obvious way to address the issue is for Congress to be heard. It may affirm the board’s decision, or it may expressly declare the change invalid and clarify that “additional commemoration” includes any name change. Both resolutions could prove difficult in the closely divided Congress. Soon a judge may join Romeo in lamenting, “O teach me how to forget to think!”
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In any legal challenge, the advantage likely lies with the challengers if they can meet the standing requirements. Otherwise, the name could remain by default… or until another administration decides to make another change to the center formerly known as the Kennedy Center.
Of course, Juliet could solve the naming problem in a similar way today with a hyphenated marital name, Juliet Capulet-Montague, although this would clearly have gone over just as poorly as the Trump-Kennedy name. It clearly doesn’t smell that sweet to many.
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I expect that both the court and Congress will follow suit. Without a quick resolution from Congress (which seems unlikely), this could result in years of litigation.
Both sides, however, would be wise to heed Shakespeare’s warning in another play that, “where two raging fires meet, they consume that which feeds their fury.”
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