GOP Senator Blocks Bipartisan Effort To Protect Kennedy Center From Trump

Donald Trump, his administration, and his hand-picked board at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are essentially holding the institution hostage until Trump’s name is restored to a building that was meant to honor an assassinated president of the United States. As we previously reported, Trump and the board have both warned that the Kennedy Center would go bankrupt and could be demolished due to disrepair if the current president’s name wasn’t restored. On Monday, a bipartisan effort to ban the demolition of presidential memorials, including the Kennedy Center, was blocked by a single Republican senator.

According to the Washington Post, the effort was led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), who had the support of Senate Democrats and some Republicans, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who, along with Merkley, leads the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the center, the Interior Department and the National Park Service. Merkley sought to pass the bill by unanimous consent, a procedure that allows a motion or action to proceed without a floor vote unless a single senator objects.

Well, a single senator objected — Sen.Mike Lee (R-Utah).

So, why does Lee object to the bill? Well, he hasn’t said why — not exactly, anyway.

Lee told Deseret News this week that he objected to the bill’s passage because “Democrats should join us in lowering the cost of living and securing American elections instead of wasting the Senate’s time with partisan scaremongering they haven’t even tried to run through the appropriate committee process.”

Sir, please be for real. Here’s Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville using his time on the Senate floor to address the totally important and pressing issue of — *checks notes* — “many” pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers allegedly being furries, because Americans need to be protected from the “terrifying” possibility of a pilot who “could have a deranged fetish of dressing up like an animal.”

You know who should also be working at “lowering the cost of living,” which, by the way, congressional Republicans are in no way, shape, or form doing? The president of the United States. Instead, Trump is using his position to arbitrarily rename international lakes and gulfs, artificial intelligence, and a building that was meant to memorialize a slain U.S. president.

As for Democrats working with Republicans at “securing American elections,” that line of GOPropaganda only shows Lee is yet another Republican who is joining Trump’s effort to take control of the election process by lying about U.S. elections not being secure, which Lee cites as an example of lawmakers not wasting Congress’ time.

Sad.

Anyway, here’s Merkley’s statement in response to Lee blocking his bill:

“Our congressionally authorized memorials to former presidents are a tribute to their accomplishments and service to our nation. Perhaps the greatest living memorial for a president is the Kennedy Center, in honor of our slain president who championed the arts. But now President Trump—without authorization from Congress—is trying to tear it down. First, he destroyed its programming, and now, he wants to destroy the building itself. All because the law says Trump can’t put his name on the building.

“So today, I asked for unanimous consent on a one-page bipartisan bill with Senator Murkowski to defend this extraordinary institution, the Kennedy Center, saying no memorial to any president can be torn down without explicit authorization from Congress. Unfortunately, a colleague objected to this common-sense bill. 

“Trump’s threats are straight out of the authoritarian playbook and should infuriate every American who values our nation’s history and the rule of law. Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars putting Trump’s name on memorials and monuments as if he is a king, we should be focused on putting money back into the pockets of working families and honoring America’s greatest cultural institutions, not destroying them.”

SEE ALSO:

Kennedy Center Board Votes To Shut Down For 2 Years. We All Know Why

Judge Denies Motion To Keep Trump’s Name On Kennedy Center

Why Is Donald Trump Always Trying To Rename Something? [Op-Ed]