Kennedy Center still weighing "partial closure," Trump admin. tells judge

Washington — The Trump administration told a federal judge late Friday that the Kennedy Center is still weighing whether to offer a full slate of performances or more limited programming over the coming months, as the government grapples with a court order requiring the institution to stay open.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper last month blocked the Trump administration from closing the Kennedy Center until 2028 for renovations, following a lawsuit from Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio. He also reversed an attempt to rename the center to add President Trump's name.

Cooper had directed the administration to detail the status of plans for its construction project, board actions related to the renovations and other "pertinent" developments by Friday. The judge also said the Trump administration had to explain plans for public access and ongoing programming, activities and operations after July 5, the start date of its previously planned closure.

In a filing on Friday, Kennedy Center Executive Director Matt Floca said the center's board plans to meet in mid-July to decide between three options: a "full closure" with no public programs so the organization can complete repairs, a "partial closure" with "some continued public access and limited programming," or a "coordinated series of phased closures" with more programming.

Attorneys for the Justice Department asked Cooper for more time to respond to Beatty, saying the Kennedy Center is still deciding how to proceed. They also suggested that both parties file a joint status report two weeks after the Kennedy Center's next board meeting.

The government's lawyers wrote that the center is still planning to carry out capital repairs on the building. They said Cooper's order "did not affirmatively require the Board to reschedule programming that had previously been cancelled or to seek new programming," and noted that Cooper did not necessarily block the center from closing for renovations altogether.

In the same Friday night filing, Beatty's lawyers pushed back against the Justice Department, accusing government officials of "implementing their shutdown decision by inertia" and seeking to "turn the Kennedy Center into a lifeless husk."

The government, the lawmaker's attorneys argued, had "gutted" the Kennedy Center's programming and is now failing to take "obvious steps" to restore it. One example they cited is "Shear Madness," a popular interactive play that ended its decades-long run at the Kennedy Center earlier this month, even though the center "could have potentially attempted to ensure" it