Whitehouse Renews Demand for Kennedy Center Financial Documents and Fiduciary Responsibilities

Previous requests for information have gone unanswered by Center leadership and Trump-appointed Board of Trustees<_u53a_p>

Washington, D.C. - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, has sent a letter to the Kennedy Center Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Matt Floca renewing previous requests for financial information and fiduciary responsibilities, after new reporting by the Washington Post revealed that the Center is on track to miss its annual revenue target by nearly $100 million when revenues fell sharply after the Center illegally affixed President Trump's name to the building.

The Post reporting cites internal budget, meeting, and financial documents that were not shared with the Board, despite Whitehouse's previous requests for documents.

"I write regarding the Kennedy Center's continuing failure to respond to my inquiries, made as both an ex-officio trustee and as the Ranking Member of the Committee with jurisdiction over the Center, for financial information fundamental to any trustee's ability to satisfy the basic fiduciary duty of care. Based on recent reporting in the Washington Post, it is clear that at least some of the information that I have requested exists. That it is being reported publicly by the press before reaching the hands of trustees only confirms my fears that the Center's leadership is setting up its Board-and the institution-for further failure," wrote Ranking Member Whitehouse.

Whitehouse added, "It is not hard to imagine that renaming the institution would have a negative financial effect, and predictably. The seemingly purposeful blind eye the Board and management turned to that financial risk (and further legal expense and risk), particularly where the renaming associates the Center with the least popular president in history, and pitches the Center into a political quarrel, is hard to justify even under the laxest standards of corporate governance."

Whitehouse also requested information about Board liability for failures of due diligence and the remedies including receivership in the event of financial or fiduciary failure.

On August 13, the Trump appointees on the Kennedy Center Board voted on short notice to close the Center for two years without providing an adequate financial or operational assessment, based on a one-sided, 2-page "independent" evaluation by an outside consultant - 100 pages of which the Center admitted was not provided to members of the Board. The Board also voted on a provision to again illegally add President Trump's name to the building and rename the area around the Center the "Donald J. Trump Plaza." The Center did not give notice to the Board before the meeting that this provision would be voted on, nor did it put the vote on the meeting agenda, nor did it do any due diligence about the legality or business consequences of that resolution.

In November 2025, Ranking Member Whitehouse 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, whose departure from the Center was announced by President Trump on March 13, 2026. In July, Whitehouse expanded that investigation based on a whistleblower disclosure exposing Center leadership's potential mismanagement of federal funding and disregard of federal contracting standards in an attempt to please the personal tastes of Center Chairman President Trump. Despite Ambassador Grenell's public promises to "open up our books," the Center has still not provided substantive answers or financial information to the Committee, and new Center leadership has not been more transparent.

The Ranking Member's letter is available here.<_u53a_p>

<_u53a_p>