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Kennedy Center Plans Deep Staff Cuts With Trump-Ordered Two-Year Shutdown

A memo from president Richard Grenell says only “skeletal teams” will remain during construction, underscoring a sweeping contraction before a planned 2028 reopening.

Overview

  • Grenell told employees departments will operate on a much smaller scale, with some units totally reduced or on hold, and warned of permanent or temporary adjustments for most staff.
  • The center is slated to close in early July for roughly two years for what Trump calls a total renovation costing about $200 million, with no detailed plans yet released.
  • Congress previously appropriated about $256.7 million for repairs and maintenance, and legal experts say that funding may not authorize a wholesale rebuild as questions over presidential authority persist.
  • A lawsuit from Rep. Joyce Beatty seeks to block the Trump-branded rename, citing the statute designating the facility as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
  • Cancellations and steep ticket-sales declines continue, and the newly named senior vice president of artistic programming has resigned less than two weeks into the role, according to new reports.