At least two Republican senators said they were caught off guard after President Donald Trump announced plans to close the Kennedy Center for two years for what he described as “construction, revitalization and complete rebuilding,” according to reports.
Republicans in Congress backed Trump’s major funding package — the “Big Beautiful Bill” — in 2025, which set aside about $257 million for Kennedy Center repairs and renovations. But Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, both of whom hold key ties to the Senate Appropriations Committee, said they never heard anything about a full shutdown of the performing arts venue as part of that work.
On Monday, Feb. 2, HuffPost reported that Collins — one of three Republican senators who voted against the Big Beautiful Bill — said the announcement was unexpected. “That came as the big surprise to me, because it was my understanding the renovations are already underway and going well, so I don’t think that was anticipated when we provided the money,” she said.
Murkowski was even more blunt, according to Punchbowl News: “At no point in time was it ever suggested that the entire Kennedy Center would be shut down for renovation.”
Punchbowl also reported that Murkowski, who ultimately cast the deciding vote to send the Big Beautiful Bill to Trump’s desk after calling the choice “agonizing,” is now seeking answers about why the Kennedy Center would need to close entirely.
Trump first revealed the plan on Sunday, Feb. 1, saying the Kennedy Center would shut down on July 4, 2026, for roughly two years.
He said he chose to halt performances during the work after consulting a group of advisors he described as “contractors, musical experts, art institutions, and other advisors and consultants.” While Trump initially portrayed the effort as a “complete rebuilding” that would produce a “new and beautiful landmark,” he later told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that the project would not involve fully demolishing the venue.
“I’ll be using the steel,” he said. “So we’re using the structure, we’re using some of the marble, and some of the marble comes down.”
Trump estimated the total cost at around $200 million.
Some critics questioned whether the closure is linked to the recent wave of cancellations by performers since the MAGA-aligned board rebranded it the “Trump Kennedy Center.”
Maria Shriver, niece of former President John F. Kennedy, shared her own take on X, framing the shutdown as a response to artists walking away. In her post, she suggested Trump is reacting to cancellations tied to the name change and argued he wants to rebuild a center that would ultimately carry his name.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex-officio trustee on the center’s board, also condemned the move in a statement. “Trump is scrambling to shut down the Kennedy Center after discovering that American artists and performers won’t put up with his partisan takeover and unlawful renaming,” she said.
“And let’s be clear: a remodeling job won’t restore the Kennedy Center to what it was,” Beatty added. “A return to artistic independence will.”
