BREAKING NEWS – Washington, D.C. – Two Republican congressmen introduced legislation to reclaim the $25 million allocated in the recent coronavirus stimulus bill to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as reports emerged Tuesday that the opera house will furlough roughly 60 percent of its full-time administrative staff after already suspending pay for more than 700 part-time employees and musicians.

“Speaker Pelosi and her allies demanded the CARES Act include $25 million for the Kennedy Center, yet just a few hours after President Trump signed the legislation, the Kennedy Center’s leadership shamefully stopped paying their National Symphony Orchestra musicians,” Congressman Steve Scalise said.

Pelosi said she was just as surprised at the actions of the Kennedy Center. “What they did was appalling,” she angrily. “I spoke privately to the representatives of the Kennedy Center a week or so ago, and they promised me they would wait a full 24 hours before stiffing their musicians!”