A federal judge ordered the Trump administration over the weekend to allow Rep. Joyce Beatty to attend a meeting of the Kennedy Center board, at which the panel is expected to finalize construction plans for the storied arts institution.
The ruling is a partial win for the Ohio Democrat, who is an ex officio member of the board and is not granted voting rights. Beatty had requested that the court grant her a vote at the upcoming meeting, but was rebuffed on that front by District Judge Christopher Cooper, who wrote that the matter was “not clearcut.”
“I serve on the Board on behalf of my colleagues in Congress and the American people, and I take that responsibility seriously,” Beatty said in a Saturday statement. “No president has the authority to shut Congress out of the governance of the Kennedy Center, much less unilaterally rename or demolish it.”