{"id":735,"date":"2026-06-29T09:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=735"},"modified":"2026-06-29T09:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:08:00","slug":"trumps-takeover-of-250th-birthday-celebrations-is-bumming-out-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=735","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Takeover Of 250th Birthday Celebrations Is Bumming Out Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Congress wanted the nation\u2019s 250th birthday to unite America in celebrating its founding principles, common bonds and democratic institutions that have made the country so unique. It passed bipartisan legislation a decade ago creating a commission to support events in the capital and around the country to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n

Read more State Fair on the Mall Sputters Out of the Gate<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead, the semiquincentennial events in Washington, D.C., have become intensely partisan, with President Donald Trump essentially taking over as master of ceremonies. The president and his administration have spurned congressional efforts to celebrate the anniversary in favor of their own high-profile events, such as the UFC match at the White House and campaign-style rallies on the National Mall, culminating with one on July Fourth that Trump has dubbed \u201cthe most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be speaking at approximately 9 P.M., preceding the Fireworks which again, like the Airshow, will be approximately ten times larger than any Fireworks in the History of our Country. So, if you like Airplanes and Fireworks and President Trump, be there!\u201d Trump wrote<\/u><\/span> in a Truth Social post.<\/p>\n

A handful of Democratic-led states are openly boycotting<\/u><\/span> Trump\u2019s 16-day Great American State Fair, progressive activists are organizing competing events in D.C., and some Washingtonians are skipping the traditionally bipartisan July 4 events on the National Mall altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s sad,\u201d Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the celebration of the miracle of democracy that comes from the founding of this nation becomes partisan, shame on us,\u201d lamented Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina).<\/p>\n

Trump this week kicked off<\/u><\/span> 250th celebrations with a campaign-sounding speech on the National Mall in which he touted anti-transgender policies, praised immigration agents implementing his deportation push, and promoted a tentative peace deal with Iran. The fair is being put on by Freedom 250<\/u><\/span>, the Trump-backed group funded in part with private donations, which has overtaken the bipartisan America250 commission created by Congress in 2016. The bipartisan commission told Congress earlier this year it has a $100 million funding shortfall, while Freedom 250 received $68 million in taxpayer funds this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can\u2019t help himself \u2013 especially with things that don\u2019t involve him, don\u2019t praise him, don\u2019t highlight him \u2013 President Trump couldn\u2019t help but try making America\u2019s 250th birthday all about himself,\u201d Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) said during a Senate hearing this week.<\/p>\n

Padilla further questioned how much taxpayer money had been spent on Freedom 250, as opposed to America250, and whether any conflicts of interest existed with funneling private donations to Trump\u2019s favored group. The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions in taxpayer funds from America250 while simultaneously directing money toward Freedom 250, as NOTUS first reported<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich donors have supported those efforts, let alone what requests might have been made alongside those contributions? How much of this has been pay-to-play or quid pro quo?\u201d Padilla asked.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of Trump at the state fair event last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized the music artists who pulled out of performing at the event shortly after the lineup was announced last month due to its partisan nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to give a big round of applause for our military band and singers. Way better than those libtards that canceled on us,\u201d Duffy said, using a derogatory word for liberals.<\/p>\n

Congressional Democrats who serve on the bipartisan America 250 commission blamed Trump for undermining bipartisan efforts aimed at commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Many of them said they still intended to celebrate the anniversary, just in their own states.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the 200th [anniversary] in 1976 and how the whole country celebrated together, and it\u2019s unfortunate that it seems to be turning into a more partisan event,\u201d Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), a member of the commission, told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

\u201cA campaign rally is not celebrating the 250th anniversary of the country,\u201d she said. \u201cI expect to attend something in New Hampshire for the 250th, and I think a lot of people will be attending events in their home states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Julia Letlow Wins Primary Runoff for Louisiana Senate Seat<\/a><\/p>\n

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told NOTUS it\u2019s an important time for the country. \u201cMy hope is that everybody is going to be doing something that stops and recognizes the just the special nature of what it means to be a citizen of the United States, and to celebrate that in your own way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania), said that the 250th anniversary \u201cshouldn\u2019t be partisan,\u201d and told NOTUS he\u2019s interested in making a \u201cpublic inquiry\u201d into what is happening with the appropriated funds. In July last year, Congress appropriated $150 million for the 250th celebration.<\/p>\n

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) sent the Department of the Interior a in March asking why Freedom 250 was receiving taxpayer money. A Schiff spokesperson told NOTUS the letter has not received a response.<\/p>\n

Rosie Rios, the chair of the America250 commission, refused to answer NOTUS\u2019 questions on whether the organization had received the tens of millions of dollars it\u2019s supposed to get from the administration. Instead, Rios told NOTUS \u201cwe continue to be in constant communication\u201d with the administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe private sector has been very, very, very generous. We have great partnerships, we have great sponsorships,\u201d Rios said.<\/p>\n

Rios downplayed concerns that the 250th anniversary celebrations had become too partisan, telling NOTUS, \u201cWe cannot be all things to all Americans, but we have something for every American.\u201d<\/p>\n

The America250 commission, she said, has \u201cremained focused on implementing our values-based programming, regardless of any other organization and their own planning activities, and that\u2019s where we\u2019ve been successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Republican members on the congressional America250 commission downplayed the rift between the competing groups, insisting that Trump isn\u2019t favoring one over the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not trying to sabotage the America250,\u201d Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama) told NOTUS. He acknowledged that there are people in the America250 commission who do not \u201cembrace\u201d what Freedom 250 is doing, \u201cbut that\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of room for everybody and everything,\u201d said West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. \u201cI don\u2019t think the nation\u2019s birthday needs to be a partisan event. I think July 4 should be a unifying event.\u201d<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t assuaged critics of Trump\u2019s approach to the celebrations. Organizers with the progressive group Next250, for example, are planning \u201ca broader, more inclusive vision for how the country approaches its 250th anniversary,\u201d including events around the country designed as a response to \u201can increasingly narrow and exclusionary narrative from the MAGA regime. A separate group, We The People 250, is also planning a D.C. march on July 4 \u201cagainst authoritarianism and political violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Murkowski, at least, is holding out hope that bipartisanship will prevail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already divided enough as a country, and I think this needs to be the one time where we all just say, isn\u2019t it amazing that we\u2019ve made it this far?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more Millions Dropped Obamacare in the First Month of Coverage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congress passed legislation creating a bipartisan commission to mark the date, but President Trump\u2019s group has promoted events featuring him and his allies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Takeover Of 250th Birthday Celebrations Is Bumming Out Congress - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=735\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s Takeover Of 250th Birthday Celebrations Is Bumming Out Congress - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Congress passed legislation creating a bipartisan commission to mark the date, but President Trump\u2019s group has promoted events featuring him and his allies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=735\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-29T09:08:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Trump\u2019s Takeover Of 250th Birthday Celebrations Is Bumming Out Congress\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T09:08:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735\"},\"wordCount\":1193,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bfb92074b6cf437f9fb29bc14a7c180b-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"U.S. News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s Takeover Of 250th Birthday Celebrations Is Bumming Out Congress - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bfb92074b6cf437f9fb29bc14a7c180b-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T09:08:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=735#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bfb92074b6cf437f9fb29bc14a7c180b-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bfb92074b6cf437f9fb29bc14a7c180b-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"President Donald Trump walks from the stage after speaking at the opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. 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