WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) – A federal judge in Washington on Friday declined a request to temporarily pause an order to remove President Donald Trump’s ​name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

U.S. ‌District Judge Christopher Cooper said he would not lift the order while a federal appeals court considers his ruling that only Congress could rename the venue memorializing former President John F. Kennedy in the nation’s capital.

The Trump administration ‌appealed ​the order to the U.S. Court of ⁠Appeals for the District ⁠of Columbia, which also rejected the government’s pause request later on Friday.

Attorneys for Democratic U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who brought the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment, nor did spokespersons for the Justice Department, the White House and the Kennedy Center.

Cooper ruled on May 29 that ⁠only Congress could rename the arts center. ⁠His order had required Trump’s name to be ​removed from the building’s facade, its website and other materials by 11:59 ​p.m. ET on Friday.

Lawyers for the administration had asked ‌the appeals court to pause the order, arguing: “It does not make sense to alter the Center’s name and signage now, only to potentially revert the name again after what should be a successful ⁠appeal.”

The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a living memorial to the late president, who was slain in 1963. After Trump last year ⁠replaced several members of ‌the board, the group voted in December ⁠to alter the center’s name to include him.

Trump ​in February announced ‌a two-year closure of the center for a major ​renovation effort. The Republican ⁠leader has made a broader push to reshape Washington’s monumental core, including plans for a 250-foot (76-meter) arch and a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington and David Thomas in Chicago; Editing by Mark Porter, Sergio Non ​and Tom Hogue)

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