U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty sought emergency court intervention on Sept. 16 to block the sudden shutdown of the Kennedy Center for safety reasons and reconstruction. Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the board's attorneys to respond to the filing by the following morning after Beatty alleged the shutdown violated a federal court order barring the closure. The Kennedy Center board voted nearly unanimously to shut the facility, and construction fencing has since been erected around the main building.

President Trump raised $17 million for the Kennedy Center account to maintain its liquidity and prevent bankruptcy. Full renovation of the site is paused pending a D.C. Circuit ruling on the facility's name, a dispute that has halted the project. Beatty, a trustee of the center, requested an emergency hearing because the building remains inaccessible to the public during normal operating hours.