Mindy Levine – Kennedy Center Trustee, New York
Category: Kennedy Center Trustee
Appointed: Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, February 11, 2025 (term expiring September 1, 2028, replacing Hilda Lucia Solis)
Priority: P2 (Limited-Purpose Public Figure; Anchor E — official non-elected capacity used to advance board conduct later ruled unlawful; no criminal conviction, so priority is capped below P1 per the private-citizen proportionality limit — see patriot-private-citizen-inclusion-gate)
Basis for Inclusion Subject classification: Limited-Purpose Public Figure. Kennedy Center trustees are presidentially appointed but not Senate-confirmed, so this subject does not qualify as a Sitting Public Official; she is classified under the Non-Speech Anchor Test per
patriot-private-citizen-inclusion-gate. Non-Speech Anchor met: Anchor E — Use of Official Non-Elected Position. Mindy Levine held a documented official, non-elected capacity as a Kennedy Center trustee (appointed February 11, 2025) and was a sitting board member on December 18, 2025, when the board took an official action — voting to rename the institution — that a federal court subsequently ruled ultra vires and void. Evidence basis: White House appointment record, February 11, 2025; multi-outlet reporting (CNN, BBC, NBC Washington, KATV, WJLA) on the December 18, 2025 vote, including the Kennedy Center’s own spokeswoman’s official statement that the board voted “unanimously”; U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruling in Beatty v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-04480 (Judge Christopher R. Cooper, May 29–30, 2026), finding the renaming ultra vires and void; CourtListener docket record confirming Levine as an individually named defendant. What is NOT the basis for inclusion: This individual’s political positions, philanthropic activities, personal and family associations, and any speech or statements are NOT the basis for inclusion in this profile. Protected speech documented in this profile: [B] This profile documents actions only. No speech or statements by Levine are included. Epistemic note on the vote: No source individually documents Levine’s roll-call vote. The “unanimous” characterization is an institutional statement from the Kennedy Center’s spokeswoman and the White House, not a public roll call. Levine was a documented sitting trustee at the time with no report of absence, recusal, or dissent. This profile does not state that she personally cast a vote — it documents her board membership at the time of the vote and the institutional characterization of the vote’s outcome.
Background
Mindy Levine of New York was appointed to the Kennedy Center board on February 11, 2025, replacing former Secretary of Labor Hilda Lucia Solis (a Biden-era appointee). Her background in arts, philanthropy, or public life is not extensively documented in publicly available sources. The White House press release confirming her appointment provided no biographical details.
Her appointment follows the pattern of other February 2025 Kennedy Center appointments: replacement of a bipartisan board with Trump political allies and donors, regardless of arts credentials.
Documented Actions
1. Kennedy Center Appointment
SourceWhite House transcript, “President Trump Announces Appointments to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” February 11, 2025.Named to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees on February 11, 2025, filling out the remainder of Hilda Lucia Solis’s term (expiring September 1, 2028), as part of a 14-member Trump slate that also included Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, Allison Lutnick, Lynda Lomangino, and Usha Vance, among others.
2. Sitting Trustee at the December 18, 2025 Renaming Vote
SourceCNN, “Kennedy Center board votes to rename it ‘Trump Kennedy Center,'” December 18, 2025; BBC, “Kennedy Center to be renamed Trump-Kennedy Center, White House says,” December 18, 2025.Levine was a documented sitting trustee on December 18, 2025, when the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees took official action to rename the institution. The Kennedy Center’s spokeswoman and the White House Press Secretary both characterized the vote as “unanimous”; no source reports Levine as absent, recused, or dissenting. This profile does not claim an individual roll-call record of her vote — see the epistemic note in the Basis for Inclusion block above.
3. Renaming Vote Ruled Ultra Vires and Void
The December 18, 2025 renaming action was ruled illegal and ultra vires by Judge Christopher R. Cooper (U.S. District Court, D.D.C.) on May 29–30, 2026, who issued a permanent injunction ordering removal of Trump’s name from the institution within two weeks. Court record: Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-04480, ruling issued May 29–30, 2026.
4. Named Defendant, Beatty v. Trump
Levine is an individually named defendant — one of approximately 40 institutional and trustee defendants — in Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-04480, filed December 22, 2025 by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03) in her capacity as an ex officio Kennedy Center trustee. The complaint challenges the December 2025 renaming vote, the board’s decision to strip ex officio members of voting rights, and the board’s decision to close the Center for at least two years. No source individualizes Levine’s litigation conduct beyond her status as one of the named trustee defendants. Court record: CourtListener docket ID 72069932 (the complete 155-entry record; docket ID 72493354 is an incomplete duplicate and is not cited), Beatty v. Trump, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-04480, filed December 22, 2025, assigned to Judge Christopher R. Cooper; party list includes “MINDY LEVINE.”
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Investigative trail pointers (public records)
Education only — verify independently. Absence of hits is not proof.
| Channel | Starting points |
|---|---|
| Federal courts | CourtListener / PACER party and attorney searches (spelling variants) |
| Campaign finance | FEC + OpenSecrets for committees and donors tied to documented roles |
| Corporate / LLC | State secretary of state; OpenCorporates for cross-border shells from reporting |
| Sanctions / PEP | OpenSanctions when international business context is already sourced |
| Contracts / grants | USAspending.gov for named entities from investigations |
Use public-records-research-specialist, corporate-intelligence-investigator, and public-corruption-ombudsman evidence tiers.
Sources
- White House transcript, “President Trump Announces Appointments to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” presidency.ucsb.edu, February 11, 2025.
- Kennedy Center press release, February 12, 2025.
- NPR, “New board elects President Trump chair of Kennedy Center,” February 2025.
- CNN, “Kennedy Center board votes to rename it ‘Trump Kennedy Center,'” December 18, 2025.
- BBC, “Kennedy Center to be renamed Trump-Kennedy Center, White House says,” December 18, 2025.
- KATV, “Kennedy Center board votes to rename it the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center,'” December 18, 2025.
- U.S. District Court, D.D.C., Beatty v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-04480, ruling issued May 29–30, 2026 (Judge Christopher R. Cooper) — ultra vires/void finding and permanent injunction.
- CourtListener (Free Law Project), docket record for Beatty v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-04480, D.D.C., docket ID 72069932 (the complete 155-entry record; docket ID 72493354 is an incomplete duplicate and is not cited), filed December 22, 2025 — party list includes “MINDY LEVINE.”
- GovInfo, “25-4480 – BEATTY v. TRUMP et al – Content Details” — official docket listing “MINDY LEVINE, Defendant.”
Last Updated: September 18, 2026