The amendment comes as the latest move in Republicans' effort to reshape the Kennedy Center, which was authorized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958, named after President John F. Kennedy in 1964 following his assassination, and opened in 1971 under the Richard Nixon administration.

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.

House Republicans have advanced a proposal to rename the Kennedy Center’s Opera House after first lady Melania Trump, sparking debate over politics, arts, and legacy.