Demonstrators have gathered outside the Kennedy Centre in Washington chanted “take it down” in unison, as workers stripped US President Donald Trump’s name from its facade.

A board handpicked by Trump had voted in December to rebrand the iconic performing arts venue, created half a century ago to honour assassinated president John F Kennedy.

Several dozen attendees cheered on the construction workers who spent about half an hour taking Trump’s name off the building.

The removal complied with a judge’s ruling that the landmark cannot be renamed without an act of Congress.

The work began about 3.20pm AEST on Saturday, hours after the US Department of Justice said the government would miss the court-ordered deadline because of thunderstorms that could pose safety risks for the workers, seeking a 12-hour extension.

Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who brought the lawsuit that forced Trump’s name to be removed, called the request to extend ⁠the two-week-old deadline “inexcusable” and part of “a pattern of non-compliance”, according to the DOJ filing.

Protesters gather to watch Trump’s name being removed. Photo: AAP

The ‌centre opened in ​1971 as a memorial to former president  Kennedy, a Democrat assassinated in 1963. Trump, a Republican, has packed its board of trustees with allies since ​resuming office last ‌year.

Hours before the DOJ filing, a federal judge in Washington had declined the department’s request to pause an order to remove Trump’s name.

US District Judge ​Christopher Cooper said he would not lift the order while a federal appeals court considered his ruling that only Congress could rename the venue.

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

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

Cooper ruled on May 29 that only Congress ‌could rename the arts centre. His order had required Trump’s name to be removed from the building’s facade, its website and other materials.

“It does not make sense to alter the centre’s name and signage now, only to potentially revert the name again after what should be a successful appeal,” the DOJ said in urging the appeals court to pause the order.

In February, Trump announced a two-year closure of the centre for a major renovation.

He has made a broader push to ​reshape Washington’s monumental core, including plans for a 75-metre arch and a 8400-square-metre ballroom on the site of the East Wing of the White House, ​which was demolished last October.

-with AAP