Republican lawmakers want to name the Kennedy Center’s opera house after first lady Melania Trump to recognize her “commitment to promoting the arts.” The proposal was included in an amendment to the spending bill for the Interior Department. Currently, it’s unclear whether the bill will pass the House, which is necessary before making it before the Senate for consideration.
The House is due to recess on Wednesday, which will leave lawmakers with limited time after their return in September before the government runs out of funding. Before that deadline, they will either have to pass a series of “full-year appropriations” bills or a short-term funding extension. Whatever they decide will still need support from Democrats in the Senate.
“We [proposed to rename] the opera house at the Kennedy Center for the first lady, who is the honorary chairman of the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center,” said Idaho GOP Rep. Mike Simpson, who introduced the amendment during the House Appropriations Committee’s Tuesday meeting. He adds that doing so is an “excellent way to recognize” Melania Trump’s “support and commitment to promoting the arts.”
The committee adopted the amendment 35-22, with Democratic Rep. Marie Guesenkamp Perez voting yes alongside the panel’s Republicans. The newly constituted board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts elected President Trump as its chairman earlier this year.
“It is a great honor to be chairman of the Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing board of trustees,” wrote Trump on his Truth Social at the time. “We will make the Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”

Meanwhile, House Republicans have also introduced legislation to rename the Washington Dulles International Airport after Trump, in addition to putting his face on the $100 bill and turning his birthday into an “international holiday.”