Sen. Jeff Merkley warned the Senate that Trump wants to demolish the Kennedy Center. Then GOP Sen. Mike Lee objected to the bill meant to stop it

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon tried late Monday night to pass a bipartisan bill by unanimous consent. The measure would have barred demolition of any presidential memorial unless Congress first voted to allow it.

According to KSL, Merkley said in a floor speech Monday night, “We are in a chapter where President Trump wants to demolish this memorial.” He went on, “He wants to demolish this enormously incredible building, which hosts operas and plays and ballets, concerts, Kennedy Center’s honor program that’s watched by millions of Americans every year, celebrating our nation’s most revered artists.”

Utah Sen. Mike Lee objected, stopping the fast-track process. The bill, written with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, would have applied to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Merkley and Murkowski oversee Kennedy Center funding in the Senate

Merkley and Murkowski lead the appropriations subcommittee that handles money for the Kennedy Center, the Interior Department, and the National Park Service. Lee gave no floor remarks on why he objected. He also blocked Merkley’s follow-up request to debate the bill and set a later recorded vote.

The Trump administration has suggested the Kennedy Center could be taken down if Trump’s name is not added to the exterior. The threat has already drawn a response from the Kennedy family, as RFK Jr.’s sister Kerry Kennedy called the center’s shutdown a tragedy and accused Trump of withholding $250 million over his name.

An August Justice Department court filing argued that without the president’s funding and desired renovations, the center would be “required to be taken down.”

Merkley showed senators a photo of Trump on Air Force One looking at a poster that appeared to read “Kennedy Center DEMOLIS(HED).” A judge later ruled that Kennedy Center officials must give 30 days’ notice before any demolition.

After Lee’s objection, Merkley said, “Trump’s threats are straight out of the authoritarian playbook and should infuriate every American who values our nation’s history and the rule of law.” He also said, “Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars putting Trump’s name on memorials and monuments as if he is a king, we should be focused on putting money back into the pockets of working families and honoring America’s greatest cultural institutions, not destroying them.”

The administration has told a court the building is “decrepit” and needs a full remodel as it fights a challenge to renovations Trump wants. Coverage of the fight states that Trump threatened to tear the center down after a court blocked him from adding his name next to Kennedy’s on the facade.

Earlier the same night, Lee also objected to a Merkley motion that would have stopped Trump from building a colossal marble arch between Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia said last week that Trump appears to be laying the groundwork for that arch even though a court order requires prior notice before work starts.