WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 — After the Trump administration illegally attempted to put the president’s name on federal property including the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Kennedy Center, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), alongside U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), today introduced a bill to prohibit the naming of federal buildings after sitting presidents.
Joining Sanders, Van Hollen and Alsobrooks as cosponsors on the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act are Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).
“It’s no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism. Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the ‘Great Leader’ by naming public buildings after himself — something that dictators have done throughout history,” Sanders said. “For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant and it is illegal. We must put an end to this narcissism — and that’s what this bill does.”
“Donald Trump doesn’t get to slap his name on any public institution he chooses. We don’t have kings or dictators in America, and this legislation stops him or any future sitting president from creating monuments to glorify themselves – because these landmarks belong to the people, not to self-worshipers,” Van Hollen said.
“Our country desperately deserves leaders focused on working for the people – not their own ego or narcissism. This necessary legislation prohibits the naming, or renaming, of any federal building or land in the name of a sitting president. And even more importantly, at a time when Americans can’t afford to put food on the table, pay their rent, or afford health care, this bill prohibits the use of any federal funds for these meaningless vanity projects,” Alsobrooks said
On December 4, 2025, the State Department announced it was renaming the U.S. Institute of Peace after President Trump. Two weeks later, President Trump’s appointees to the board of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts voted to add the president’s name to the website and the front of the building. Both actions violate the federal laws that created these institutions.
The SERVE Act would:
- Prohibit the naming or renaming of any federal building, land, or other asset in the name of a sitting president;
- Prohibit the use of federal funds to do so; and
- Ensure this applies retroactively to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace by returning any federal assets named for the current sitting president to the name given under United States Code.
Sanders, Van Hollen and Alsobrooks also filed this legislation as an amendment to the government funding minibus being voted on this week in the Senate.
Read the bill text here.
