There really wasn’t much in the way of interest in the House Appropriations Committee working on a measure to fund the Interior Department in the next fiscal year, but Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho decided to tuck one idea into the package that made the legislative effort a bit more interesting. NBC News reported:
Republicans on Tuesday proposed naming the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Opera House after first lady Melania Trump, with the lawmaker who sponsored the measure saying he wanted to honor the first lady’s ‘support and commitment in promoting the arts and humanities.’ … Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, ranking member on the subcommittee, said Tuesday during the full committee markup of the bill that she was ‘surprised’ to find the Kennedy Center provision in the amendment and made it clear that she opposed it.
In recent months, Republicans have prioritized naming things in ways they find ideologically satisfying, targeting everything from the Gulf of Mexico to Navy ships, Veterans Day to the Persian Gulf, military bases to sports teams.
GOP officials have similarly invested a bizarre amount of time and energy into pushing sycophantic legislation designed to make Donald Trump happy. The list includes:
What’s notable about the effort to name the Kennedy Center’s opera house after the incumbent first lady is the degree to which it dovetails with both goals: It advances the GOP goal about politically satisfying names, and it dovetails with pro-Trump legislative sycophancy.
That said, proponents of the idea probably shouldn’t get their hopes up. As NBC News’ report added, “The likelihood of the proposal’s becoming law is slim. While it’s possible the overall funding bill could pass the Republican-controlled House, it will face an uphill climb in the Senate, where government funding bills need Democratic support to pass.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
