Kennedy Center Layoffs Loom as Two-Year Renovation Closure Approaches

The Kennedy Center began layoffs Thursday ahead of President Donald Trump's plan to shut down the institution for two years, with the number of affected staffers appearing to be in the double digits and spanning multiple departments. The cuts mark the formal start of a workforce reduction that employees had been warned about for weeks.

Board meeting minutes had indicated the closure was expected to affect "approximately 75 to 175 of the center's roughly 300 employees." A 2025 tax filing cited by the Associated Press shows that nearly 2,500 people were employed at the Kennedy Center during the 2023 calendar year, a figure that underscores how dramatically the institution had already contracted before Thursday's cuts began.

Among those cut, according to several staff members, were Nick Meade and Rick Loughery, whom Richard Grenell had installed in top roles after Trump's takeover of the center.

The layoffs follow a February memo in which Grenell warned staff of what was coming. "During this aggressive construction phase, departments will obviously function on a much smaller scale with some units totally reduced or on hold until we begin preparations to reopen in 2028," Grenell wrote. "This period will mean permanent or temporary adjustments for most everyone. We will provide as much clarity and advance notice as possible."

One staffer, speaking anonymously out of fear of reprisal, said at the time: "There is no way to read this message as anything other than preparation for mass layoffs and institutional contraction."

Kennedy Center union workers had already protested the venue closure, a decision that reversed Trump's earlier statement in October 2025 that the center would remain open throughout the renovation process. Other staffers told the Washington Post that Grenell's message signaled "preparation for mass layoffs," with one calling the situation "a leadership failure that has driven down ticket sales, donor confidence, and artistic participation," and another saying, "What's being presented as a renovation is, in practice, a dismantling."

Trump wrote that the closure is likely to begin on Independence Day, and since his takeover of the center, subscription and ticket sales have dramatically declined. Trump told reporters he would not demolish the building, saying, "I'll be using the steel," and estimated the project would cost about $200 million.

The institution is also in the middle of a leadership transition. Richard Grenell planned to transition out of his role as the center's president as the venue finalized plans for the two-year shutdown. Matt Floca, vice president for facilities operations, is taking over as the center's chief operating officer and executive director, and will have a vast budget after Trump secured $257 million from Congress for the renovation.

The last major expansion of the Kennedy Center was completed in 2019, when the venue underwent a $250 million expansion by Steven Holl Architects as part of the center's REACH project. Neither Trump nor Grenell provided evidence to support claims about the building being in disrepair.

Board documents noted that a newer portion of the campus that opened in 2019 may remain active, including possibly for rehearsals for the National Symphony Orchestra, which has been scrambling to find new venues. The center's expected reopening remains 2028, but for hundreds of workers, the closure arrived Thursday.