Whitehouse Statement on Trump Shuttering Kennedy Center for “Complete Rebuilding”

Washington, D.C.-Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), which has jurisdiction over public buildings, and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, issued the following statement after Trump announced a multi-year closure of the Kennedy Center:

"As President Trump continues his demolition tour of Washington, he's now setting his sights on one of America's great cultural institutions. And yet again, he's bucking rules and convention to do so. If he succeeds, it will be because of a series of suspect and illegal actions to commandeer the Kennedy Center as a clubhouse for his friends and political allies and install leadership who will satisfy his every whim: first, he gutted the Center's board, dismissing all Trustees appointed by Democratic presidents and replacing them with loyalists eager to rubber stamp his power grab; next, he illegally stripped ex officio Trustees of their rights to vote in contravention of the relevant statute; then he illegally slapped his own name on the living memorial to President Kennedy, literally silencing Trustees who tried to speak up against it. Now, with his hostile takeover leading to artists' withdrawals and declining ticket sales, he is covering up his failures by shuttering a national landmark that belongs to the American people-and he's announcing it as a fait accompli before input from the Board, Congress, and others, as law and precedent dictate."

Ranking Member Whitehouse previously launched an investigation into the Center's financial management and operations after documents obtained by EPW Democrats showed millions in lost revenue, luxury spending, and preferential treatment for Trump allies under Ambassador Ric Grenell's leadership. Despite Grenell's bold public promises to "open up our books," neither he nor the Center has provided substantive answers or financial transparency to the Committee.

Whitehouse also joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08), Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), House Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA-02), and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03)-all ex-officio members of the Center's Board-to condemn Trump's attempt to illegally rename the Center after himself.