Senate Blocks Merkley, Murkowski Bill to Prevent Trump Tearing Down Presidential Memorials

Senate Blocks Merkley, Murkowski Bill to Prevent Trump Tearing Down Presidential Memorials September 28, 2026 Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) blocked Merkley’s bipartisan bill with Alaska’s U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski to prohibit the demolition of any national memorial to honor a U.S. president—like the Kennedy Center—without an act of Congress: “ Our congressionally authorized memorials to former presidents are a tribute to their accomplishments and service to our nation. Perhaps the greatest living memorial for a president is the Kennedy Center, in honor of our slain president who championed the arts. But now President Trump—without authorization from Congress—is trying to tear it down. First, he destroyed its programming, and now, he wants to destroy the building itself. All because the law says Trump can’t put his name on the building. “So today, I asked for unanimous consent on a one-page bipartisan bill with Senator Murkowski to defend this extraordinary institution, the Kennedy Center, saying no memorial to any president can be torn down without explicit authorization from Congress. Unfortunately, a colleague objected to this common-sense bill. “Trump’s threats are straight out of the authoritarian playbook and should infuriate every American who values our nation’s history and the rule of law. Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars putting Trump’s name on memorials and monuments as if he is a king, we should be focused on putting money back into the pockets of working families and honoring America’s greatest cultural institutions, not destroying them.” Merkley and Murkowski serve as the Ranking Member and Chair of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, respectively, which oversees funding for the Kennedy Center. Merkley took to the Senate Floor in an attempt to pass the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act , a one-page bill which would have blocked the demolition of any national memorial honoring a U.S. president—including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial—without an act of Congress. Full text of the bipartisan bill can be found by clicking here . In addition to Merkley and Murkowski, the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Jack Reed (D-RI). ###