US official urges Congress to ban presidents from naming buildings after themselves Following Kennedy debacle

The US Congress is considering a draft legislation that would prohibit President Donald Trump from renaming federal buildings, land plots, and other properties after himself.

The proposition for such a legal restriction was introduced by House Representative April McClain Delaney (Dem., State of Maryland), Caliber.Az reports citing Newsweek.

The push comes following the contentious decision made by the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to add the current president's name to it. 

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has likewise introduced legislation in the Senate proposing a ban on naming federal properties after incumbent presidents.

If passed, the first bill would require the board of the now-renamed “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" to reverse the renaming decision, while the second bill would effectively ban the practice of naming federal properties after sitting presidents. 

Delaney argues that the US Congress must put an end to the “Trump branding” of national treasures and memorials, especially institutions dedicated to the arts and to the memory of Kennedy. 

While several members of the political Kennedy dynasty, including JFK's nieces Kerry Kennedy and Maria Shriver, spoke out against the decision of renaming the center, his nephew and current Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., refrained from commenting on the decision. 

The arts centre is home to the Washington National Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra and was commissioned in 1964, a year after Kennedy, the 35th president of the US, was assassinated during a public appearance in Dallas, Texas, as the Democratic leader was credited with supporting the fundraising efforts that helped transform the project into a reality.

By Nazrin Sadigova