The federal judge who ruled Friday that it is unlawful for President Donald Trump to add his name to the Kennedy Center is the husband of former President Joe Biden’s personal attorney.
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper, who is married to Joe Biden’s personal attorney Amy Jeffress, ruled that President Trump can’t legally add his name to the Kennedy Center, effectively blocking the performing arts venue’s updated moniker — the Trump Kennedy Center, court documents show. Cooper also blocked the administration’s plans for a two-year closure so the center can undergo significant renovations.
According to Judge Cooper, Trump’s name cannot be added as the law that established the center “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.”
The ruling was made in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where Judge Cooper has presided since 2014, after being appointed to the bench under former President Barack Obama.
Notably, last year, then-President Biden announced that Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress, was replacing Bob Bauer to be his new personal lawyer, Politico reported. Jeffress is currently representing Biden in his lawsuit seeking to block the Department of Justice (DOJ) from releasing audio recordings and transcripts of an interview obtained by the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified materials.
Biden’s new personal lawyer is no stranger to politically sensitive clients https://t.co/Ipe3gDOX02
— POLITICO (@politico) July 23, 2025
A view of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on February 2, 2026. US President Donald Trump announced February 1, he is closing the Kennedy Center for two years for a thorough renovation, as the storied Washington arts complex struggles with declining ticket sales and a backlash from performers. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)
Judge Cooper has rendered mixed decision on Kennedy Center, which I’m still reading. But he finds RENAMING was ILLEGAL, and decision to close it down for 2 years was dereliction of common law duty of prudence.https://t.co/CL9FtzQSNi pic.twitter.com/eSFFewF2wS
— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) May 29, 2026
Cooper and Jeffress were married in 1999 at the lavish Washington D.C. mansion known as the Meridian House, and their wedding was officiated by the former Biden Administration Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to a May 1999 New York Times weddings section write-up. (RELATED: Biden Regrets Hiring Merrick Garland Because He Didn’t Prosecute Trump Enough: REPORT)
In a post on X, legal commentator and author Julie Kelly raised the prospect that Cooper’s marriage to Jeffress should be grounds for the judge’s recusal from ruling on the lawsuit.
“Judge Cooper should recuse himself from any matter involving the president. His wife, Amy Jeffres, represents a number of clients against the administration,” Kelly wrote.
Judge Cooper should recuse himself from any matter involving the president. His wife, Amy Jeffres, represents a number of clients against the administration; just this week, she filed the lawsuit on behalf of Joe Biden to keep recordings with his ghostwriter out of Congress’s… https://t.co/Y401zLxMQX
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 29, 2026
The Daily Caller reached out to the Department of Justice for comment on the decision, but has not heard back by the time of publication.