A Democratic senator is accusing the Kennedy Center of cutting corners on construction projects rushed to please President Donald Trump, after whistleblowers came forward with detailed accounts of what they describe as serious building problems.
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island announced Saturday that he received a whistleblower disclosure from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting whistleblowers. The disclosure alleged that “the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President’s aesthetic whims and his desire to star in a series of televised events in December.”
Whitehouse went on to describe the fallout from those alleged shortcuts. “The Center’s subservience to the President’s desires and its corner-cutting contracting practices have resulted in steel columns that are rusting through fresh paint, a reflecting pool that may have to be torn out and rebuilt, and a brand-new bathroom floor torn out over an offending tile color,” he said. “This is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project.”
The Kennedy Center did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
Trump moved to take control of the arts venue — named in honor of former President John F. Kennedy — at the start of his second term. He removed the center’s existing leadership and installed a new Board of Trustees, which named him chairman and added his name to the building.
Democrats filed a lawsuit to have his name removed, and a federal judge ruled in their favor, ordering Trump’s name off the venue. The center had also been hit with boycotts from artists during the upheaval. Trump attempted to shut the center down for two years, but a court blocked that effort, ruling that only Congress has the authority to change its name.
Whitehouse sent a letter to the center’s executive director, Matt Floca, demanding responses to his questions by July 23. He said the whistleblower report contained “firsthand accounts of multiple former Center project managers, supported by contemporaneous documents and photographs.” The senator also attached an 83-page appendix packed with internal documents, emails, and photographs allegedly showing poor construction work.
Among the specific allegations: the center pushed ahead with construction before receiving congressional authorization, reportedly so the work would be finished in time for Trump to accept the FIFA Peace Prize at the venue. According to the letter, the center bypassed required contracting procedures in the process, wasted money ripping out a bathroom because Trump disliked the color, and awarded no-bid contracts. One contract worth $8 million to replace the concert hall’s floor went to a company with no prior experience working in concert halls, Whitehouse alleged.
