The Trump administration failed to meet the court-ordered deadline for removing President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, stating it planned to finish the task on Saturday morning.

The Department of Justice explained in a court filing before the Friday midnight cutoff that thunderstorms created safety concerns for workers and asked for an extension until noon on Saturday.

Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who filed the lawsuit, described the request to extend the two-week-old deadline as inexcusable and part of a pattern of non-compliance, according to the DOJ filing.

Beatty would strongly oppose any further extensions for removing Trump's name from the half-century-old arts landmark, the filing noted.

Hours earlier, a federal judge in Washington had rejected a DOJ request to pause an order requiring removal of Trump's name from the Kennedy Center.

Trump Administration files appeal

US District Judge Christopher Cooper said he would not lift the order while a federal appeals court reviews his ruling that only Congress could rename the venue honoring the assassinated President John F. Kennedy in the nation's capital.

The Trump administration appealed that order to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which also denied the government's request for a pause on Friday.

Attorneys for Beatty stated that the law is clear: only Congress can change the Kennedy Center's name.

We are standing by for whatever Trump may try next, but his desperation is only making the spectacle worse for him, said Norm Eisen, co-founder of Democracy Defenders Action, a Democratic-leaning legal advocacy group, and Nathaniel Zelinsky of the Washington Litigation Group.

The White House and the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cooper ruled on May 29 that only Congress could rename the arts center. His order required Trump's name to be removed from the building's facade, its website, and other materials by 11:59 p.m. on Friday.

Lawyers for the administration had asked the appeals court to pause the order, arguing it does not make sense to alter the Center's name and signage now, only to potentially revert the name again after what should be a successful appeal.

The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a memorial to the Democratic president, who was slain in 1963. After Trump replaced several members of the board last year, the group voted in December to alter the center's name to include him.

In February, Trump announced a two-year closure of the center for a major renovation. The Republican leader has made a broader push to reshape Washington's monumental core, including plans for a 250-foot arch and a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the East Wing of the White House, which Trump had demolished in October.