Democrat Says Whistleblowers Found Big Problems at Kennedy Center

A Democratic senator is raising alarms about construction problems at the Kennedy Center, a famous arts venue in Washington, D.C. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island says whistleblowers — people who report wrongdoing — told him that workers rushed through renovations to impress President Trump. He made the announcement on Saturday, calling the problems a waste of money at a building that honors a former president.

Whitehouse said he received a report from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit group that protects whistleblowers. The report claims the Kennedy Center rushed a series of renovations because of the president's personal tastes and his wish to appear at televised events there in December. The senator said the report included firsthand accounts from multiple former project managers, backed up by documents and photographs.

The problems described in the report are serious. Workers painted over steel columns that were already rusting, meaning the rust was hidden but not fixed. A reflecting pool may have to be completely torn out and rebuilt. A brand-new bathroom floor was also ripped out just because President Trump didn't like the color of one of the tiles.

Whitehouse says the center broke rules by starting work before Congress approved it. He also claims the center used no-bid contracts, which means they hired companies without going through a fair competition process. One contract worth $8 million went to a company that had no experience working on concert hall floors, according to Whitehouse.

The senator wrote a letter to the Kennedy Center's executive director, Matt Floca, asking for answers by July 23. He included an 83-page collection of internal documents, emails, and photos showing what he called shoddy, or poor-quality, construction. The Kennedy Center did not respond to requests for a comment on the allegations.

The trouble at the Kennedy Center started when Trump took office for his second term. He removed the center's leadership, replaced the board, had himself named chairman, and even tried to add his own name to the building. A federal judge later ruled that only Congress has the power to rename the center, so Trump's name had to come down.

Trump also tried to shut the Kennedy Center down for two years, but a court ordered it to stay open. Many artists have refused to perform there to protest the president's actions. The Kennedy Center was named after President John F. Kennedy and is considered a national memorial, not just a concert hall.