Requests Seek Board Notes, Policy Documents, and Public Contracts
Washington, D.C. – Democracy Forward today requested records regarding the unlawful renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) without public notice or explanation.
Congress created the Kennedy Center in 1964 in Public Law 88-260, which designated the performing arts center as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and codified its name in federal statute. The law also prohibits the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees from adding additional memorials or plaques in the public areas of the Center without legislative action.
Despite these legal guardrails, the Board — recently overhauled by presidential appointees and now chaired by President Trump after he ousted existing leadership — renamed the institution the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” a move already being reflected less than 24-hours later on signage and online. The abrupt change and unlawful rebranding suggest the decision was planned behind closed doors and then implemented without advance notice, explanation, or any meaningful opportunity for public scrutiny.
In response, Democracy Forward’s requests seek all versions of the Board’s policy and procedure manual and bylaws in effect since January 1, 2025, as well as the minutes of all board meetings during that period. The requests also seek contracts, purchase orders, memoranda, and related records concerning exterior signage and the attempted name change from September 1, 2025, to the present, including any communications with outside vendors or government entities related to rebranding.
“The Kennedy Center – long recognized for its excellence and committed to sharing the performing arts with the public – and the American people who benefit from it have been traumatized and embarrassed under the Trump-Vance administration, which has upended tradition, fired trustees, and changed programming to fit its political agenda. Attendance is down and artists are boycotting appearances. Now, the Board is attempting to continue to aid and abet the President’s vanity exercise by violating federal law. How this treasured landmark is governed and how decisions are being reached — especially ones as consequential and abrupt as decimating its purpose and legacy — must be transparent, accountable, and open to public scrutiny” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Our nation’s capital is not Pyongyang – and yet here we are, seeing an alarming trend of the president’s name appearing on federal buildings, which ultimately belong to the people, directed by decisions made in secret.”