Sheldon Whitehouse, a US senator for Rhode Island and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has issued an open letter to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, alleging mismanagement of federal funds for its renovation.
In 2025, Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center, considered the cultural institution of the country and added his own name to it. A judge ordered his name be removed in May 2026 on the basis that it needed congressional approval.
Citing a whistleblower linked to the non-profit organisation, the Government Accountability Project, Whitehouse alleges the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees failed to meet its obligations to Congress for financial management.
He said the organisation rewrote its own contracting rules after the fact to justify no-bid contracts, and that management did not adhere to contracting rules so the president could receive the new “FIFA Peace Prize,” telling staff “we’ll deal with the lawsuits later”.
Whitehouse further alleged that an $8m no-bid flooring contract was awarded to a company with no relevant experience, that a new bathroom floor was torn out because Trump disliked the colour and that the contractor selected to repaint columns had cut corners.
“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 in December,” Whitehouse said.
He continued: “The centre’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 colour.
“This is waste and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project.”
Whitehouse is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board and has requested answers and documents from the centre’s executive director Matt Floca by July 23, 2026.
Floca has also been requested to provide “substantive responses” to “cronyism” and “corruption” previously alleged in November 2025.
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