Since leading a stunning takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at the start of his second term, President Trump has repeatedly lamented the building’s condition. He has described the center, which opened in 1971, as in “tremendous disrepair,” and has spoken about the need for a major renovation.
Now Republican lawmakers appear to be heeding his call. A House committee approved a budget proposal last week that called for allocating $257 million to the Kennedy Center for capital repairs and other expenses, roughly six times the amount it usually receives from the government. It is a piece of the large reconciliation measure, which Mr. Trump calls his “one big beautiful bill,” that Republicans are writing and hope to push through Congress in the coming months.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal buildings, said in a statement Tuesday that the “component of the proposal that provides funding for repairs and maintenance needs at the Kennedy Center was requested by the president.”
The White House declined to discuss the specifics of the proposal, which is still working its way through the House as the reconciliation package takes shape.
“President Trump cares deeply about American arts and culture, which is why he is revitalizing historic institutions like the Kennedy Center to their former greatness,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.
The Kennedy Center declined to comment.
The center typically gets about $43 million in federal funds, which goes toward operations, maintenance and repairs of the property. That is roughly 16 percent of its $268 million annual budget.
Some Democrats have expressed concern about the committee’s proposal, which comes as Mr. Trump is making sweeping cuts to the arts, proposing the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and canceling current grant offers to cultural organizations.
Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee overseeing the arts endowment, described the increase in spending on the Kennedy Center as “exorbitant.” She sent a letter on Tuesday to Richard Grenell, whom Mr. Trump made president of the Kennedy Center, demanding a “detailed account of how the Kennedy Center intends to use this funding, should it be approved by Congress.”
In a statement, Ms. Pingree said: “While I appreciate President Trump’s interest in the center’s future and the dire need for funding, we must ensure that funds appropriated by Congress are truly benefiting the artists and audiences that make the Kennedy Center great. We need transparency on how this money would be spent and assurance it’s not being used to reward loyalty or bankroll pet projects under the guise of cultural investment.”
The office of Representative Sam Graves of Missouri, the top Republican on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, did not respond to requests for comment.
The money for the Kennedy Center is included in a 22-page bill approved by the committee last week. The proposal includes about $242 million for “necessary expenses for capital repair and restoration of the building and site,” along with $7.7 million for “operation, maintenance and security” and $7.2 million for “administrative expenses.”
Mr. Trump, who made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center in February after purging its historically bipartisan board of Biden appointees, has repeatedly criticized the center’s facilities.
When the president visited the center in March to preside over a board meeting, he disparaged its appearance. (Its architecture has drawn criticism from the start.) He took issue with the center’s 2019 expansion, which cost $250 million that was raised privately, saying that “they built these rooms that nobody’s going to use.” And he said that the center’s signature columns should be covered with marble or granite.
“They never covered the I-beam,” he said, according to a recording of the board meeting that was obtained by The New York Times. He added: “I think the I-beams should be covered with some incredible stone — probably marble, but marble’s a bad outdoor stone, but looks better than granite. But it should be covered. And we’ll do that. We’ll add that in. But it’s not a small job.”
Mr. Trump also promised at the meeting to seek money for the Kennedy Center from Congress to help “bring it back.”
Mr. Grenell and his team at the Kennedy Center have set out to remake the institution. They have sought to cut costs and reduce staff; roughly 40 staff members have been dismissed since Mr. Trump’s takeover. And they have promised changes in programming, though they have not yet offered a detailed vision.
The president is expected to attend a fund-raiser and performance of “Les Misérables” at the Kennedy Center in June. He is a fan of Broadway musicals of the 1980s, including “Les Mis,” “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera.” An invitation offered a gold sponsorship level for $2 million, and a silver sponsorship for $100,000; both come with photo opportunities with Mr. Trump.
