Lee objection blocks Murkowski-Merkley bill on presidential memorials

A bill requiring an act of Congress before any presidential memorial could be demolished, including the Kennedy Center, stalled in the Senate Monday night when Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected, the Congressional Record shows.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing Kennedy Center, Interior Department and National Park Service funding, cosponsored the bill with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the subcommittee's ranking member. Merkley sought unanimous consent, a way to pass a bill without debate unless any senator objects. Lee also objected to a limited debate instead.

The bill covers memorials built under congressional mandate, including the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.

Murkowski said President Trump recently discussed the Kennedy Center and a "Triumphal Arch" while "giving very little context or content about either to Congress or the public." She said Congress must approve any demolition of congressionally authorized facilities or new construction on federal land. "I would ask the Trump administration to work with us and present actual plans, including cost estimates, for these projects rather than circumventing their responsibility to American taxpayers," she said.

Trump has said the center is in a "virtual state of collapse" and that a falling ceiling nearly killed a security guard, claims that remain unverified. Neither the Trump administration nor Lee responded directly.