The Trump-appointed board of trustees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted 20-3 on Thursday to put President Trump's name back on the building's facade and to close most of the Washington, D.C. arts complex for up to two years of renovations — a direct challenge to a federal judge who had already blocked both moves.

Under the approved plan, the facade inscription would read "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump," and the center's outdoor plaza would be renamed "The President Donald J. Trump Plaza." The Reach, a smaller adjoining venue, will remain open for a limited slate of events, including National Symphony Orchestra performances — a carve-out that preserves some ticket revenue and keeps the site functioning, at least partially, as the living memorial to President Kennedy that Congress originally chartered it to be.

A judge already said no

The vote squares off against U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who ruled in May that the board lacked the authority to unilaterally rename a federally chartered institution, writing that "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it." Cooper also blocked an earlier board-approved two-year closure plan, calling it "ill-informed and seemingly preordained," and had ordered Trump's name stripped from the building and its website — a change the center completed by the court's June deadline.

CONGRESS GAVE THE KENNEDY CENTER ITS NAME, AND ONLY CONGRESS CAN CHANGE IT. — U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper

Three trustees voted against Thursday's measure: Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.). Beatty called the new vote "a transparent effort to circumvent the Court's ruling," according to NBC News' report on the closed-door meeting. White House Press Secretary Liz Huston defended the move, saying, "Under President Trump's bold leadership, the Kennedy Center is on its way to becoming the finest cultural institution anywhere in the world."

The board's push to rename the venue and undertake a lengthy closure has been a recurring flashpoint since Trump reshaped its leadership earlier in his term, ousting the previous chairman and installing loyalists. Axios reports the latest vote sets up a fresh test of how far the administration can go in reshaping the institution's identity without congressional sign-off. ABC News' coverage notes the building has been shrouded in tarps during preliminary renovation work even as the legal fight over its name and closure timeline has dragged on.

What's next: the board is required to report back to Judge Cooper within five days on the outcome of Thursday's meeting and its plans for removing the facade tarp. Legal challenges to the renewed renaming and closure vote are widely expected, potentially teeing up another ruling from Cooper on whether the board has simply repeated the same overreach in a new form.