Updated July 30, 2026 at 3:03 PM EDT
The bill for America's birthday celebrations is growing, and the Trump administration wants taxpayers to foot it. It is asking Congress for an additional $10 million in reimbursement for costs related to patriotic events on the National Mall, including the Great American State Fair and the July Fourth fireworks display.
The revelations came from Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the lead Democrat on the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. He wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday outlining his understanding of the facts and asking for more information.
"It is unacceptable to ask the American people to bail out Freedom 250," he wrote, referring to the group that President Trump created last year to oversee anniversary celebrations, which critics say he did to bypass a bipartisan group that already existed.
Merkley said that as part of a broader funding request last week, the Office of Management and Budget asked Congress for millions more dollars for the National Park Service in part "to recoup costs associated with support of events celebrating America's Semiquincentennial."
That raised questions immediately, as funding for the 250th anniversary has been a fraught topic for months. Merkley said his office then held a meeting with Interior Department staff to clarify the request.
Critics have long accused Freedom 250 of whitewashing American history and politicizing America's birthday celebrations, from the state fair with uneven state representation to a mostly conservative Christian prayer event on the National Mall in May. Democrats have already raised questions about the costs of those events and accused Freedom 250 of misleading donors and selling access to President Trump to fund them, which the group denies.
Merkley said the Interior Department told his office that it specifically seeks $10 million to reimburse the National Park Service for costs incurred during the May prayer event, the two-week state fair and Trump's July Fourth speech and fireworks.
"According to your staff, these were routine costs for event support," Merkley wrote to Burgum, noting that National Park Service materials define those as "U.S. Park Police costs, event monitoring costs, overtime for NPS employees, and repairing resource damages."
Merkley pointed out that Congress had already designated money for that purpose. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of July 2025 — which passed with only Republican votes — allocated $150 million in federal funds to the Interior Department last year for such events.
But most of that money has gone to Freedom 250 rather than America250, the bipartisan group that Congress created for this purpose a decade ago. House Democrats have accused Freedom 250 and the Trump administration more broadly of "hijacking" America's milestone for its own political and financial gain.
Democrats published a 55-page report earlier this month accusing Freedom 250 of opaque and deceptive fundraising practices, which they allege could potentially amount to wire fraud. Watchdog groups, citing public contracts, have also raised concerns about the group funneling public funds toward entities with ties to the Trump administration.
Freedom 250 has categorically denied the report's claims — calling it a "partisan smear" — and told NPR at the time that it "stepped in to rescue our nation's 250th birthday from years of wasted time, wasted money, and failed planning."
But it has not disclosed how much money it has raised or from whom, and allows donors to request anonymity. Its website lists some government and corporate sponsors, including Palantir, Exxon Mobil, Mastercard and Boeing.
Merkley asked Burgum why the additional $10 million is not coming from those sources instead.
"Our understanding from the administration was that taxpayer funds would contribute $150 million and private donations would contribute the balance of the funding," Merkley wrote. "Given that understanding, what has gone wrong that has led to this additional request for taxpayer funds?"
The Interior Department told NPR over email Thursday that the funding would help address expenditures associated with an "elevated security posture," which it called necessary due to "elevated security threats against high-profile events in Washington, D.C.
It cited the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting in April, a foiled terrorist attack on the White House UFC fight and "countless vandalism incidents at events/monuments/memorials."
The Trump administration has repeatedly, without evidence, blamed vandals for — and charged one person with — damaging the new $14 million lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The pool was drained after the July Fourth fireworks, weeks after pieces of the lining peeled off and algae turned the water green. It's one of the Trump administration's many controversial D.C.-area beautification and construction projects, some of which are specifically tied to the country's 250th birthday.
When reached for comment, Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez accused Democrats of "trying to make America's 250th birthday about partisan politics."
"Their divisive rhetoric forced Freedom 250 to increase security at these events, but we won't let that stop us from honoring our country's milestone," she told NPR over email. "This is just another attempt to divide us, and it won't work."
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who authored the report criticizing Freedom 250, called the request for additional funding the "cherry on top of this corruption cake."
It is not clear where the request stands. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the moderate Republican who chairs the subcommittee, did not respond to NPR's request for comment. Merkley, for his part, says Freedom 250 should bear the additional costs.
"The American people shouldn't be on the hook for the Administration's disastrous planning, and I'm demanding answers," he told NPR by email on Thursday.
He sent Burgum a list of five questions — including past National Park Service expenses, expected costs and information about Freedom 250 donors — and asked him to respond by the end of next week.
Freedom 250 has more anniversary programming planned for August: the Patriot Games, a two-day national athletic competition for high schoolers, followed by an Indy car race near the National Mall.
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