The House Appropriations Committee approved a proposal to rename the Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump.
On Tuesday, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, proposed an amendment with the name change during a committee markup of the bill funding the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other related agencies for fiscal year 2026, The Washington Post reported. The measure passed the committee by a vote of 33-25.
The second-largest theater in the Kennedy Center would be called the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House” if the bill passes the lower chamber. The Kennedy Center’s three major stages — the Eisenhower Theater, the Opera House, and the Concert Hall — have never been renamed before.
The first lady is an honorary chair of the Kennedy Center board, as is tradition.
“This is an excellent way to recognize [Melania Trump’s] support and commitment to promoting the arts, and I would encourage members to vote for this Republican en bloc amendment,” Simpson said, who is the chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on interior, environment, and related agencies.
The bill that includes the amendment to rename the Kennedy Center would give it $37 million in appropriations, which is a 17% decrease from last year and follows President Trump’s budget proposal. However, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said that the One Big Beautiful Bill had appropriated $250 million for the center.
“The Republicans have now given the president six times the normal amount of money to run the Kennedy Center, carte blanche over who will be on the board, and how different parts of the Kennedy Center — perhaps the whole Kennedy Center itself — will be named, and this amendment confirms that,” Pingree said.
