Republican Panel Votes to Name Kennedy Center Opera House After Melania Trump

The move to honor the first lady comes amid a Trump-led shakeup of the arts center leadership and debate over its cultural direction.

President Donald Trump (L) and first lady Melania Trump arrive at the opening night of "Les Miserables" at the Kennedy Center in Washington on June 11, 2025. Alex wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

A House Republican panel has advanced a measure to rename the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ opera house after first lady Melania Trump, with the committee chairman saying the move intends to honor the first lady’s advocacy for the arts and humanities.

The naming of the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House” was written into a government funding bill approved in a 33–28 vote on July 22.