Kennedy Center tries to regain upper hand in renovation war: ‘Has institutional support’

“The Center has taken measures to responsibly and transparently stabilize the facility while preparing for the comprehensive infrastructure renewal that decades of deferred maintenance have made unavoidable, a project now made possible by [Trump’s] vision, which has institutional support and new funding secured,” Kennedy Center vice president of public relations Roma Daravi told Fox News Digital.

“We remain fully committed to transparency and to delivering the critical improvements that will preserve this institution for generations to come,” Daravi added.

The Trump administration is undertaking a two-year, $250 million renovation project. 

With construction underway, whistleblowers submitted a disclosure to the Government Accountability Project in late June, detailing rushed, substandard work and contracting irregularities at the country’s cultural center, which Trump leads. In response to the disclosures, Whitehouse sent a letter to Kennedy Center leadership on Saturday, highlighting the whistleblowers’ claims. Whitehouse sits on the Kennedy Center’s board and is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the center.

Whitehouse raised concerns that management set aside contracting rules to hit Trump’s deadlines ahead of several high-profile events, including the FIFA World Cup draw on Dec. 5, 2025, where the president received the new FIFA “Peace Prize,” and the Kennedy Center Honors, which he emceed two days later. Management told staff, “We’ll deal with the lawsuits later,” Whitehouse claimed. Other allegations included concerns that shoddy work was completed to paint the building’s columns white, reportedly costing over $1.5 million to fix subsequent issues; that a South Carolina firm with no experience installing concert hall stage flooring received an $8 million no-bid contract to replace flooring in the center’s concert hall; and that a cosmetic revamp of the East Plaza Reflecting Pool is already failing, with only a basic maintenance completed, instead of an overhaul.

“Longstanding federal contracting controls were set aside, no-bid contracts were awarded, and superficial cosmetic work was performed that staff warned would have to be redone,” Whitehouse wrote in the letter. “These are not isolated lapses but a single pattern that runs counter to everything the Center has told Congress it would do with the public’s money.”

“Instead of pursuing renovations tailored to the building’s actual needs, 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,” he continued. “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. This is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project.”

The Kennedy Center shot back, particularly regarding the flooring controversy. It argued that the $8 million flooring figure has been presented without important context.

Rather than an $8 million payment, officials said the agreement is a five-year blanket purchase agreement establishing only a maximum spending ceiling, with money obligated through individual call orders only when work is needed, according to the outlet. The center defended selecting the South Carolina company awarded the contract, explaining that Low Country Flooring was the only vertically integrated contractor in the Mid-Atlantic capable of sourcing wood directly from timber mills while maintaining the grain consistency and acoustic performance required inside the concert hall.

But House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) also expressed outrage, saying that funds appeared to have been spent on “cosmetic nickel and dime fixes that don’t last” instead of “legitimate, necessary repairs.”

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“At this point, I’d trust Bob the Builder more than Trump the Builder,” he said. 

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.