trump arrives to attend the opening night of ” les=”” miserables=”” at=”” the=”” kennedy=”” center=”” in=”” washington=”” dc=”” on=”” june=”” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=”this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)” onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1583″ width=”2374″ loading=”lazy”/>House Republicans want to name the John F. Kennedy Center’s opera house after first lady Melania Trump.
Republicans included language that would designate the opera house at the center for the performing arts in Washington, DC, as the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House” in an amendment for a spending bill for the Interior Department.
It’s unclear whether the bill will pass the full House, let alone whether it could make it into a bipartisan agreement with the Senate, so it remains to be seen whether the provision will make it into law. The House is set to recess tomorrow, leaving lawmakers with limited time when they return in September before the government runs out of funding.
During the House Appropriations Committee’s meeting on the bill today, GOP Rep. Mike Simpson — who introduced the amendment — said “yes, we renamed 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.”
He argued that it’s an “excellent way to recognize” Melania Trump’s “support and commitment to promoting the arts.”
The amendment was adopted by the committee, 35-22, with Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez joining with the panel’s Republicans to vote yes.
The first lady’s office did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.
