Kennedy Center is ‘a swamp for cronyism’ under Trump, Senate Democrats say

Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Richard Grenell, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the Kennedy Center, stating that the nation’s cultural venue has become a “swamp for cronyism” and corruption under his leadership. Grenell has since criticized the investigation as a partisan attack.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the ranking member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, sent a letter to Grenell last week with a list of questions and requesting documents related to the Kennedy Center’s operations by December 4.

“Contracts, invoices, and facility use agreements reveal that you operate the center for the enrichment of your friends and acquaintances, to dole out political favors, and as a playground for the President of the United States and his allies,” Whitehouse wrote to Grenell.

“The Center is being looted to the tune of millions of dollars in foregone revenue, cancelled programming, unpaid use of its facilities, and wasteful spending on luxury restaurants and hotels—an unprecedented pattern of self-dealing, favoritism and waste.”

The Kennedy Center granted FIFA free and exclusive use of its entire campus from November 24 to December 12, 2025, according to documents obtained by congressional staff and first reported by The Washington Post. Internal estimates show the arrangement will cost the center more than $5 million in lost rentals, rescheduled programming, labor, contracted services and catering and equipment.

The Kennedy Center also approved contracts for two people with personal ties to Grenell. In April 2025, it agreed to pay a former colleague of Grenell $15,000 a month for policy research and speechwriting, despite scant detail about the work and no record of speeches to justify the expense. A month later, the center signed a $10,833-a-month contract with Jeff Halperin, husband of Kari Lake, for social-media services.

Documents show the Kennedy Center was billed more than $10,700 for private meals, alcohol and entertainment between April 17 and July 2, 2025. The charges included champagne service, multi-bottle wine orders and expensive restaurant meals that were not tied to fundraising. Receipts list senior executives Nick Meade and Rick Loughery spending several hundred dollars at a time on charcuterie and bottles of rosé.

And the Kennedy Center paid $27,185 for luxury hotel stays at the Watergate for new hires and associates. Those expenses included coverage for missed reservation fees and valet parking. Meanwhile, the center gave steep rental discounts to Trump allies, including nearly $20,000 off a NewsNation town hall and almost $22,000 off a CPAC-affiliated “Christian Persecution Summit,” with notes indicating the president’s office waived some costs.

“These actions betray the purpose set forth by Congress, allowing the center to become a swamp for cronyism and self-dealing,” Whitehouse wrote. “They are particularly troubling given recent reports that the Kennedy Center is operating over budget among falling ticket sales.”

Whitehouse is seeking extensive records from Grenell, starting with the center’s bylaws and all financial, contracting and ethics policies currently in effect. He is also asking for internal guidance on how contracts are approved, how expenses are authorized, and how potential conflicts of interest or misuse of funds are reported and handled.

He also demanded documentation of contracts, expenditures or facility rentals since February 2025 that benefited people connected to the center’s leadership or the president, as well as detailed records of hotel stays, meals, entertainment and other benefits provided to staff or associates—and the names of officials who approved those expenses.

Among other requests, Whitehouse also asked for data on donor activity under Grenell’s leadership. That includes identifying major donors who have withdrawn support, listing new donors giving more than $50,000, and an explanation of any changes in fundraising strategy.

In a response to Whitehouse, Grenell called the senator’s letter “filled with partisan attacks and false accusations.”

Grenell claimed that his predecessor received a salary of $1.2 million per year and that, when he arrived at the Kennedy Center, the institution was paying “a bloated staff.” He particularly emphasized that he has cut the number of people employed in the center’s development department from 94 workers to just 16 people.

“Today, and for the first time in decades, we have a balanced budget at the Kennedy Center,” Grenell claimed. “New leadership has ended the financial chaos.”

Grenell claimed that cost of just convening a board meeting prior to his arrival cost the Kennedy Center $120,000 in expenses. “Today, it’s a fraction of that cost,” he said.

“We have not cancelled shows,” Grenell added. “I established a new policy that all events must be revenue neutral. This means that if our ticket-sales modeling did not cover all the costs of the program, then the program or rental could not be confirmed without a generous donor or sponsor to make up the deficit.”