Courts Block Trump Name Change, Reopen IRS Settlement Probe

Federal judges issued orders Friday that halted two Trump administration initiatives and revived scrutiny of a prior settlement. One ruling prevented the removal of the president's name from the Kennedy Center. The other directed further review of an $1.8 billion agreement tied to IRS operations.

In the Kennedy Center matter, the court held that only Congress possesses authority to alter the facility's official designation. The decision came after the administration sought to close the venue for renovations. Lead plaintiff Rep. Joyce Beatty and supporting groups had challenged the plan. The order requires the name change to be reversed within two weeks.

Separately, a Florida judge reopened litigation over the IRS settlement. Former federal judges filed arguments claiming the agreement improperly directed funds and limited future accountability. The court scheduled an inquiry into whether prior proceedings misled the bench. An Eastern District of Virginia judge issued a temporary restraining order that paused the fund's operations pending argument.

The same day, the Eleventh Circuit set a July deadline for full briefing in a separate dispute over Volume II of the special counsel report on classified documents. That volume concerns materials recovered at Mar-a-Lago. Judge Aileen Cannon had blocked public release; media organizations appealed.

Norman Eisen, who coordinated several of the challenges, described the outcomes in a Substack post. Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney, linked the appeals process to broader questions of judicial oversight. Administration positions on the Kennedy Center closure timeline and the settlement terms were not presented in the filings covered by these reports.