A watchdog group on Thursday called on the Interior Department to produce financial details about one of the Trump administration’s initiatives to celebrate the United States’s semiquincentennial.
The development appears to mark an effort designed to ensure that Freedom 250, a semiquincentennial initiative being spearheaded by President Donald Trump, does not gain access to any of the funds lawmakers appropriated last year toward marking the country’s 250th birthday. The Interior Department was tasked with dispersing those funds.
In a letter to the federal agency, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility suggested Freedom 250 unlawfully diverted at least $100 million in taxpayer funds “earmarked for America250,” an organization established by Congress that holds an official role in promoting the semiquincentennial. The text from Trump’s 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allocated the funding, does not explicitly name an organization as a recipient of the funds.
PEER, a left-leaning nonprofit organization, said it was concerned that an entity “operating outside the framework Congress created” is using taxpayer funds. It asked Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to produce documentation about how Freedom 250’s funds are being used, and “a full accounting” of the organization’s budget. It also asked the secretary for records on whether Freedom 250 is raising or accepting private funds, including through selling merchandise. In addition, PEER questioned the collaboration between the National Park Foundation and Freedom Defense.
“The creation of a parallel entity to carry out work similar to America250 is blurring accountability, weakening congressional intent, and undermining public trust. That trust is essential if the 250th anniversary is to be a moment of shared reflection rather than division. The American people deserve confidence that their money is being used responsibly, lawfully, and in service of an inclusive national commemoration,” PEER Executive Director Timothy Whitehouse wrote.
“If National Park Foundation funds, staff time, or other in-kind resources are being used to support Freedom250, the Department should disclose how those contributions are accounted for, whether they were formally approved by the Foundation’s board, and how they align with the Foundation’s charitable mission. Staff time and in-kind support represent real costs to the public and must be treated with the same transparency as direct expenditures,” he added.
The Interior Department dismissed concerns in a statement to the Washington Examiner, citing legal provisions that it said allowed the Trump administration to work with Freedom Defense.
A spokesman said, “PEER did not read the code because as it is clearly stated in Chapter 1011, Subchapter II (§§101111-101122), of Title 54, United States Code, NPF exists ‘To encourage private gifts of real and personal property or any income therefrom or other interest therein for the benefit of, or in connection with, the National Park Service, its activities, or its services, and thereby to further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, scientific, educational, inspirational, or recreational resources for future generations of Americans, there is hereby established a charitable and nonprofit corporation to be known as the National Park Foundation to accept and administer such gifts.’ As such NPF are the natural partners for the Department to work with.”
“NPS [National Park Service] and the NPF entered into a cooperative agreement under 16 U.S.C. § 4601 et seq., 54 U.S.C. §§ 100101, 101111-101122 and P.L. 119-21, Sec. 50305, by which the NPS provides BBB funding for the NPF to (1) contract with a primary event contractor (in this case Freedom 250) to oversee, plan, organize and execute the majority of the events celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, celebrations and/or activities; and to (2) invest NPF’s funds and generate additional funding in support of NPS’s 250th anniversary funded purposes,” they added. “The NPS remains substantially involved in these activities, including but not limited to overseeing and providing meaningful, timely input on contracting actions and purchases, addressing the same in the terms of the operative cooperative agreement.”
PEER’s allegations appear to stem from a Semafor report the watchdog cited in its letter, which said America250 and Freedom 250 had “managed to reach consensus about the money.” The report was published earlier this week.
“The party-line tax and spending plan Republicans passed last summer appropriated $150 million for ‘celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary,’ to be distributed by the Department of the Interior. People familiar with talks between America and Freedom groups said they reached a funding compromise: $50 million for America250, and $100 million for Freedom 250,” the report said.
The report also cited Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to Trump who sits on both America250’s commission and counsels Freedom 250. She appeared to dismiss concerns about the parallel organizations competing with each other.
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“I’ve seen collaboration, not confrontation,” Conway said, adding that she is “pleasantly surprised” by the comity between the parallel efforts.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Interior Department for comment.