{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://beatty.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-beatty-testifies-at-joint-oversight-shadow-hearing-on-trump-s-unlawful-kennedy-center-takeover-and-costly-vanity-projects", "REP. BEATTY TESTIFIES AT JOINT OVERSIGHT SHADOW HEARING ON TRUMP\u2019S UNLAWFUL KENNEDY CENTER TAKEOVER AND COSTLY VANITY PROJECTS", "2026-07-22", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "House", "OH", "Joyce Beatty", "B001281", "beatty.house.gov", "beatty", "https://beatty.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) today testified before a joint Democratic oversight shadow hearing hosted by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, detailing her successful lawsuit against President Donald Trump\u2019s unlawful attempt to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and highlighting how the Administration continues to prioritize costly vanity projects over the needs of the American people.\n\nDuring the hearing, titled \u201cMonumental Waste,\u201d Beatty recounted her legal challenge to protect the Kennedy Center and defend the rule of law after Trump-appointed trustees unlawfully stripped ex officio board members of their voting rights and voted to rename the institution.\n\n\u201cMy testimony is about not allowing this unlawful act, protecting the rule of law, and standing up for the only living memorial to John F. Kennedy,\u201d Beatty said. \u201cIt\u2019s about whether powerful people can rewrite history, seize public institutions, and silence dissent.\u201d\n\nAs an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, Beatty filed Beatty v. Trump in December 2025 after being muted during the board meeting in which trustees voted to rename the Kennedy Center. In May 2026, U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in her favor, restoring her voting rights, ordering Trump\u2019s name removed from the building, and blocking the Administration\u2019s planned two-year closure of the Kennedy Center.\n\nBeatty also reflected on witnessing the removal of the unlawful signage outside the Kennedy Center after the court\u2019s order.\n\n\u201cJustice has prevailed. I have not been silenced, I am no longer prevented from attending and voting in board meetings, and the name has come down,\u201d Beatty said.\n\nBeatty concluded by contrasting the Administration\u2019s focus on vanity projects with the economic challenges facing American families.\n\n\u201cIn these difficult times, American people deserve better than a President who is more focused on slapping his name on buildings than helping lower the cost of groceries,\u201d Beatty said. \u201cI would have much rather been here focusing on affordability and helping working families, rather than discussing Trump\u2019s vanity projects and petty acts of defiance.\u201d\n\nWatch Congresswoman Beatty\u2019s opening testimony HERE.", 1, "2026-07-23T07:31:02Z", "2026-07-23T07:32:26Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://beatty.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-beatty-testifies-at-joint-oversight-shadow-hearing-on-trump-s-unlawful-kennedy-center-takeover-and-costly-vanity-projects"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9872983209788799, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}