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.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who as chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee oversees the Kennedy Center budget, proposed the amendment during a committee markup of the bill, which funds the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and related agencies for the 2026 fiscal year….