Kennedy Center Whistleblowers Say Officials Halted Repairs Now Cited to Justify Shutdown

AP Photo/Allison Robbert

Former Kennedy Center employees are accusing the institution’s leadership of shelving repairs to leaking infrastructure months ago, then citing those same problems to justify shutting down the building.

The whistleblowers, who submitted their allegations to Congress through attorney David Seide on Thursday, provided internal documents showing that Kennedy Center Executive Director Matt Floca directed officials to cancel funding for planned roof work in April, The New York Times reported Friday.

President Donald Trump has for months pushed to close the Kennedy Center for two years while it undergoes a $257 million renovation funded by Congress, though a federal court has so far blocked that plan. Last week, after a judge again ruled that Trump’s name could not be displayed on the building, the president said the renovations would not move forward unless the decision is overturned.

These new whistleblower revelations come after the Kennedy Center temporarily closed its main building last week, citing public safety risks. Floca has specifically pointed to leaks affecting the building’s roof overhangs as one reason the closure is necessary.

But Seide argued that the water problems had been known for years and “were not treated as priorities nor as acute risks to public safety.”

The Kennedy Center had secured $9.3 million for roofing work through the domestic policy legislation signed by Trump in July 2025, the Times noted. Floca subsequently approved $295,000 to design replacements for the leaking overhangs.

“Yet six months ago — with the funds in hand — he stopped the remediation process from moving forward,” Seide wrote.

The Kennedy Center disputed that characterization, saying the initial project was canceled after a contractor’s price came in at three times the expected amount. Officials said the roof work was instead incorporated into a larger renovation proposal.

“The premise that we delayed the design work is incorrect,” the center said in a statement referenced by the Times.

A project manager submitted a $250 million renovation plan in June that included $14 million for structural repairs addressing the leaks, along with work on the building’s HVAC, elevators, electrical system and theater infrastructure.

Floca also said subsequent inspections uncovered more extensive damage than officials initially realized.

“The Kennedy Center has known for years that the roof overhang leaked,” he said. “What we did not know until this summer was how far the damage had spread inside it.”

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