Senator cites rusting steel, torn-out bathroom floor
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Saturday that whistleblowers have detailed multiple problems from what he described as rushed and improper reconstruction at the Kennedy Center, adding a new layer of legal and political scrutiny to the arts complex as President Donald Trump has sought to assert control over it.
Whitehouse said in a release that he received a whistleblower disclosure from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower protection group. The disclosure alleges 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 said.
“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,” the senator said. “This is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project.”
Trump seized control of the venue at the start of his second term, ousting its prior leadership and installing a Board of Trustees that named him chairman and added his name to the building. Democrats sued to remove the name, and a federal judge ruled Trump’s name must come off the building, which had been wracked by artist boycotts during the turmoil. Trump later tried to close the center for two years, but was ordered by the court to keep it open because only Congress could change its name.
Whitehouse released a letter he wrote to the center’s executive director, Matt Floca, demanding answers by July 23. He said the whistleblower report included “firsthand accounts of multiple former Center project managers, supported by contemporaneous documents and photographs.” He also included an 83-page appendix of internal center documents, emails, and photos of apparently shoddy construction.
The allegations include that the center rushed work before it was authorized by Congress because it wanted to be ready for Trump to accept the FIFA Peace Prize. The letter alleges the center did not follow required contracting guidelines, wasted money replacing a bathroom because the president did not like the color, and inked no-bid contracts. One $8 million contract to replace the concert hall’s floor went to a firm with no experience in concert halls, Whitehouse contended.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.