ToplineA federal judge denied the Kennedy Center’s last-minute bid to pause a court order requiring the removal of President Donald Trump’s name while it pursues an appeal, as construction crews stand by outside the building to comply with the Friday deadline to remove the name.Construction crews arrived at the Kennedy Center on Friday. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Getty ImagesKey FactsU.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper said Friday afternoon the Kennedy Center’s motion for a stay, which would pause his earlier order to remove Trump’s name while the center pursues an appeal, is denied because a stay is an “extraordinary remedy.”A stay is not warranted because the Kennedy Center failed to prove it would suffer “irreparable harm” if it removes Trump’s name on Friday but its appeal later succeeds, Cooper wrote in his ruling.Cooper said the Kennedy Center has not made a “strong showing” that it will succeed on the merits of its appeal for the “detailed reasons laid out in the Court's ruling” that ordered the center to remove Trump’s name.Construction crews began setting up under the Kennedy Center’s sign Friday morning, apparently preparing to remove Trump’s name from the building’s facade, according to various livestreams outside the center.The crews have not yet started to remove any letters, and the sign still includes “The Donald J. Trump And” words on the building, added by the White House’s direction, above the original sign that reads: “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts.”Earlier this week, the Kennedy Center dropped Trump’s name from its website, and it referred to itself as the “Kennedy Center,” not the “Trump Kennedy Center,” in a recent email to members, the Associated Press reported. Friday is the court-ordered deadline for the Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name from its building and other digital or physical branding materials after a federal judge ruled the Kennedy Center board cannot unilaterally change the center’s name without congressional approval.what to watch forWhether a last-minute push by the Kennedy Center actually halts the removal of Trump’s name on Friday. Lawyers representing the Kennedy Center filed an appeal seeking to keep Trump’s name on the building late Thursday, and they also requested a stay that would block the judge’s order from taking effect before the appeal is resolved. In a court filing requesting the stay, the Kennedy Center’s lawyers said “requiring a name change now, only to potentially revert back to the current name after appeal” would be “incredibly confusing for the public” and a waste of time and money. Should the judge deny the center’s request for a stay, the Kennedy Center can appeal the decision to Washington’s federal court of appeals, but the timeline for such a process is unclear, the New York Times reported.