Federal Cultural Institutions

Washington National Opera announced it will end its five‑decade residency at the Kennedy Center and seek an amicable early termination to resume as an independent nonprofit, saying the center’s new business model — which requires productions to be fully funded in advance — is incompatible with opera economics, where typically only 30–60% of costs are covered by ticket sales and the rest by grants and donations. The split comes amid the Trump‑appointed board’s Dec. 18, 2025 vote to add President Trump’s name to the federally chartered John F. Kennedy Center (with signage installed Dec. 19), a move that has prompted artist cancellations, falling ticket sales, legal challenges arguing a congressional act is required to change the name, and competing claims that the change was needed to protect the institution’s finances.