Sen. Lisa Murkowski is taking a stand in support of required congressional authorization to demolish presidential memorials.
Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, Monday to introduce the legislation on memorials that include the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Acts in Washington D.C.
Merkley had introduced the bill, seeking unanimous consent for passage, but one member blocked that motion.
Murkowski noted President Donald Trump made recent statements about the Kennedy Center and his proposed “Triumphal Arch,” giving little context or content about either to Congress or the public. Both projects fall under the purview of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. Murkowski is the chair of that subcommittee and Merkley is a ranking member.
“Any action to demolish facilities authorized by Congress or to construct facilities on federal land first requires rigorous oversight and explicit congressional approval,” said Murkowski. “I would ask the Trump administration to work with us and present actual plans, including cost estimates, for these projects rather than circumventing their responsibility to American taxpayers.”
Trump recently described the memorial to the assassinated president as “decrepit” and in “very dangerous shape” and suggested that the building be demolished.
Trump had sought to rename the memorial the “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump,” but Federal Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center board, which Trump chairs, could not add Trump’s name to the building’s exterior or rename its grounds without the expressed approval of Congress.
