Lone GOP senator blocks bipartisan effort to prevent Trump from demolishing Kennedy Center

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A bipartisan effort aimed at protecting the Kennedy Center from demolition was blocked on the Senate floor Monday night by a lone Republican senator.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah objected to passage of a bill stipulating that any presidential memorial designated by an act of Congress — including the Kennedy Center — could not be demolished without congressional approval.

Supporters of the bill attempted to pass it via a fast-track process known as a unanimous consent request. But any single senator can object to such a request.

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The move comes after President Donald Trump was photographed earlier this month reviewing a poster that appeared to read “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED,” hours before his administration told a judge the Washington arts institution had to be closed due to “structural deterioration.”

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced the bill. GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democratic Sens. Jack Reed, Sheldon Whitehouse and Chris Van Hollen also sponsored the measure.

“Trump believes that if he can’t take over and name it after himself and wipe Kennedy’s name off of it, no one can go to perform and no one can go to listen to someone perform. In fact, the building must not remain standing,” Merkley said on the Senate floor Monday.

He added that the bill is “standing up for the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the fact that we are a republic, and standing up for the fact that our nation wept at the assassination of John Kennedy, and this is a memorial that we go to to remember him.”

Lee objected to the measure and to further debate on the bill, without giving a statement on his opposition. CNN has reached out to Lee’s office for comment.

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周一晚间，一项旨在保护肯尼迪中心免遭拆除的两党合作提案在参议院遭到一名共和党参议员的否决。

犹他州参议员迈克·李反对通过一项法案，该法案规定，任何经国会法案指定的总统纪念馆（包括肯尼迪中心）未经国会批准不得拆除。

该法案的支持者试图通过一种名为“一致同意请求”的快速通道程序使其获得通过。但任何一位参议员都可以对这样的请求提出异议。

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此前，本月早些时候，唐纳德·特朗普总统被拍到正在查看一张海报，海报上似乎写着“肯尼迪中心已被拆除”。几个小时后，他的政府告诉法官，由于“结构损坏”，华盛顿的这家艺术机构必须关闭。

该法案由民主党参议员杰夫·默克利提出。共和党参议员丽莎·穆尔科斯基以及民主党参议员杰克·里德、谢尔顿·怀特豪斯和克里斯·范霍伦也共同发起该法案。

“特朗普认为，如果他不能接管这座建筑，并以自己的名字命名，抹去肯尼迪的名字，那么就没有人能去那里演出，也没有人能去那里听演出。事实上，这座建筑必须拆除，”默克利周一在参议院发言时说道。

他补充说，该法案“捍卫法治、权力分立以及我们是一个共和国的事实，也捍卫了我们国家在约翰·肯尼迪遇刺时痛哭流涕的事实，而这是我们缅怀他的纪念馆。”

李反对这项措施，也反对就该法案进行进一步辩论，但他并未就此发表声明。CNN已联系李的办公室寻求置评。