It makes no sense to me to name a ship after a living person. Imagine what would be happening now if there had been a ESS Bill Cosby...time for a name change. The Navy should wait for people to be dead, and gone long enough for their legacy to be settled, before naming a ship after them.
I seriously doubt that the Navy had any say in the naming. That decision was made before the Kenyan was out of office, most likely when the keel was laid.