Kennedy Center Rebuts Whitehouse's $8 Million Contract Claims as It Defends Trump-Era Renovations
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 16
Kennedy Center Rebuts Whitehouse's $8 Million Contract Claims as It Defends Trump-Era Renovations
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 16
Summary
$8 million was a five-year spending ceiling, not a direct payout, the Kennedy Center said as it rejected Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's claims that a flooring contract reflected wasteful Trump-era renovation spending.
The Center said the work addressed decades of deferred maintenance—citing water damage, corrosion and structural wear—and argued critics miscast legally compliant infrastructure repairs as politically driven cosmetic projects.
A May 29 federal court opinion and consultations with the Office of Management and Budget support its position that the Kennedy Center is outside the executive branch and not bound by Federal Acquisition Regulation rules, officials said.
Low Country Flooring was chosen because it could source acoustically suitable wood with consistent grain for the concert hall, while other disputed work on columns and reflecting pools was described as lawful stabilization covered by warranties.
Whitehouse's office said the Center still has not substantively answered oversight requests dating to November, leaving the fight over procurement transparency and renovation priorities unresolved.