Van Hollen, Alsobrooks, Sanders Introduce Bill to Ban Presidents from Naming Buildings After Themselves

After the Trump Administration illegally put the president’s name on federal property including the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Kennedy Center, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (both D-Md.) joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to introduce a bill to prohibit the naming of federal buildings after sitting presidents.
Van Hollen, Alsobrooks, and Sanders as cosponsors on the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act are Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“Donald Trump doesn’t get to slap his name on any public institution he chooses. We don’t have kings or dictators in America, and this legislation stops him or any future sitting president from creating monuments to glorify themselves – because these landmarks belong to the people, not to self-worshipers,”said Senator Van Hollen.
“Our country desperately deserves leaders focused on working for the people – not their own ego or narcissism. This necessary legislation prohibits the naming, or renaming, of any federal building or land in the name of a sitting president. And even more importantly, at a time when Americans can’t afford to put food on the table, pay their rent, or afford health care, this bill prohibits the use of any federal funds for these meaningless vanity projects,”said Senator Alsobrooks.
“It's no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism. Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the 'Great Leader' by naming public buildings after himself — something that dictators have done throughout history,”said SenatorSanders.“For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant and it is illegal. We must put an end to this narcissism — and that’s what this bill does.”
On December 4, 2025, the State Department announced it was renaming the U.S. Institute of Peace after President Trump. Two weeks later, President Trump’s appointees to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to add the president’s name to the website and the front of the building. Both actions violate the federal laws that named these institutions.
This legislation complements U.S. Representative April McClain Delaney’s (D-Md.)Federal Property Integrity Act, legislation she introduced last month to prohibit the renaming of any federal building, land, or other asset, in honor of a sitting President.
“President John F. Kennedy once stated, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’ Sadly, President Trump focuses only on what our country can do for him,”said Rep. April McClain Delaney. ‘Trump's ‘branding’ of our federal landmarks will end with this legislation, and put a stop to such insanity.”
The SERVE Act would:
Senators Van Hollen, Alsobrooks, and Sanders also filed this legislation as an amendment to the government funding minibus being voted on this week in the Senate.
Text of the bill can be viewedhere.