September 16, 2026 12:00 pm
It is time for the Trump-appointed members of the Board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to be fired by Congress or to resign.
They have failed in their most fundamental duty, the duty to protect the function and reputation of the institution they serve.
Being a board member is not a perk. It’s a responsibility.
Above all, board members are responsible to safeguard the institution.
Before Trump, the Center had a bipartisan board and a nonpartisan reputation. It was dedicated to celebrating the best of American art and culture.
One doesn’t become a board member to destroy the reputation of an institution.
One doesn’t become a board member to destroy the finances of an institution.
The Kennedy Center was built as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. He had a singular interest in the arts. He frequently invited artists and poets to speak and perform in the White House.
The board of the Kennedy Center appointed by Trump has been slavishly devoted to turning the memorial into a center honoring both Trump and Kennedy.
They violated their oath and their fiduciary duty from the beginning.
Their rank politicization of the Center drove artists and performers away. It drove away the Washington National Opera. It drove the National Symphony Orchestra to financial ruin.
It drove away the audiences who loved the Center and never thought of it as a partisan performance space. Ticket sales plummeted.
The board fought in the courts to keep Trump’s name on memorial, where it did not belong.
The Trump board repeatedly lost in court; a federal judge concluded that Congress named the Center and only Congress could change its name.
So the board has now decided to close the Center, and Trump has said he will block funding for the Center’s renovation unless his name is put on the facade. He wants to share the Kennedy memorial.
It is not his to share, anymore than the Lincoln Memorial or the Jefferson Memorial.
The board has joined Trump in desecrating the Kennedy Center.
The members of the board appointed by Trump are responsible for this mess.
They should resign or be fired by Congress.
Posted by dianeravitch
Categories: Art, Corruption, Disruption, Ethics, Extremism, Failure, Funding, Trump
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Agreed ! When they shut down and claim bankruptcy, they essentially will not have a job, since there will be nothing to do.
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By ladyfair on September 16, 2026 at 12:42 pm
I’m wondering if Caroline (Kennedy) or her husband or son has any ability to stop this. Does anyone have the authority to give the Center back to the Kennedy family?
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By stiegem on September 16, 2026 at 2:15 pm
Congress supposedly controls the Kennedy Center, not the family.
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By dianeravitch on September 16, 2026 at 2:16 pm
So what does that mean, Diane? “Congress ‘supposedly’ controls the Kennedy Center, not the family.” Is Congress going to control the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago? How did that happen?
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By stiegem on September 16, 2026 at 2:42 pm
Congress created the Kennedy Center. It appoints some board members.
Frankly I don’t know how much it put into the Obama Library. If anything.
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By dianeravitch on September 16, 2026 at 4:50 pm
I asked ChatGPT. It said:
There are two different things that are often called the “Obama Presidential Library,” and that distinction matters.
So if the question is “Did Congress appropriate money to build Obama’s Chicago presidential center?” the answer is no.
There has been federal spending related to Obama’s presidential records—including NARA’s storage, preservation, digitization and administration of the records. But that is different from Congress paying for construction of the Obama Presidential Center. NARA says the Obama Foundation itself provided money toward digitization and certain record-moving expenses.
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By dianeravitch on September 16, 2026 at 4:53 pm