Ranking Member Huffman Blasts Whitewashing & Corruption Surrounding America’s 250th Birthday

Ranking Member Huffman Blasts Whitewashing & Corruption Surrounding America's 250th Birthday

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Democrats called out Republicans for allowing Trump to hijack America's 250th Birthday celebration to sell access, hide his donors, and rewrite history - turning the country's founding anniversary into a party exclusively for billionaires and a platform for Christian Nationalism.

Ranking Member Huffman opened the hearing by laying out a clear pattern of Trump's corruption and House Republicans' complicity, highlighting the un-American horrors they've let unfold across America.

"This corrupt, dishonest White House is trying to use America's 250th milestone as a stage to promote an alternate reality and Trump's fake America. The darker parts of our past are airbrushed out. The dire realities of this moment for democracy, for the rule of law, for immigrant communities, and for millions of Americans struggling to keep up with the cost of living, are obscured by gaslighting and declarations of a new golden age," said Huffman.

"But anyone who falls for these gauzy lies, anyone who thinks our founders would approve of what Trump is doing to our country right now, is deluding themselves.

"Patriotic Americans should be sounding the alarm throughout this 250th year about what is happening in our country right now: unaccountable, militarized, secret police forces terrorizing communities, murdering some people in the streets for caring about their neighbors and peacefully protesting. Our free press is under attack for daring to show the public the truth. Actual history is getting whitewashed and censored from national parks and museums. Our democracy is teetering on the brink as a deeply unpopular president, who knows he is going to lose a free and fair election, proposes nationalizing elections. And all of you [Republicans] sit silently, even though you know what that means.

"And you let him hijack the country's 250th anniversary to sell access, hide his donors, and rewrite history."

Huffman went on to detail how House Republicans have let Trump - through Freedom 250 LLC - take over celebrations for personal and political gain.

"You let him clean house and put loyalists on the board of the National Park Foundation, open the door to foreign dark money donors to buy influence with zero oversight. They are raising untold sums that Trump is bragging he will use for vanity projects like a 250-foot Arc de Triomphe, whatever that is.

"They have siphoned off $100 million of taxpayer money to bankroll propaganda as the administration replaces the real story of our history with a whitewashed fantasy. The horror of slavery, the Native American genocide, all of that is out. Censorship and gauzy Christian nationalism, written by PragerU, are in.

"That is not patriotism. It is cowardice.

"We should honor the 250th anniversary of America by telling the truth. Maybe if we did that, it would jar some of you into remembering the oath you swore to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic," Huffman concluded.

Democrats discussed troves of evidence they've uncovered regarding Freedom 250's involvement in the semiquincentennial celebrations and how taxpayer dollars are being funneled into secretive, partisan operations.

PAY-TO-PLAY CORRUPTION AND DARK MONEY: Freedom 250 LLC is a shadow fundraising operation designed to conceal the flow of public and private funds.

• It was registered using Harvard Business Services, a go-to vendor for anonymous Trump-affiliated organizations, as a registered agent. Trump has stacked the National Park Foundation's board with personal campaign finance operatives.
• According to Committee documents and recently revealed evidence from PEER, sponsorship packages start at $500,000 for VIP access and speaking roles. $2.5 million buys a private photo with the President.
• The NPF charter does not bar foreign donations, and Freedom 250 leadership openly courted foreign money at Davos, inviting countries and companies to help "shape" the American celebration in exchange for donations.

ERASING HISTORY FROM NATIONAL PARKS FOR TRUMP'S WHITEWASHED FANTASY: Despite massive public outcry and overwhelming opposition from most Americans, Trump has spent the past year stripping public spaces of references to slavery, the removal of Native Americans, and climate change. Real history is being torn off the walls of national parks and replaced with partisan propaganda.

• Executive Order 14253 (March 2025) requires the removal of any public monument, sign, or exhibit on federal land that "disparages Americans past or living, including persons living in colonial times." Secretarial Order 3431 directs agencies to complete removals within 120 days and asks visitors to report "negative" historical information.
• Meanwhile, taxpayer-funded "Freedom Trucks" are touring the country with AI-generated content produced by PragerU and Hillsdale College.

CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM ON THE TAXPAYER DIME: The Trump administration is using this celebration to further erode church-state separation and force extreme Christian Nationalism on the American people, pushing a false narrative that our country was founded as a Christian nation.

• Freedom 250's internal, nonpublic "Events Toolkit" includes "Faith-Based Messaging" such as "Our rights come not from government, but from God," recommends "pro-life" messaging, and proposes worship nights, family devotional picnics, and "scripture readings paired with quotes from the Founding Fathers."
• Freedom 250 has partnered with PragerU, Moms for Liberty, and the America First Policy Institute. Christian nationalist activist Sean Feucht has publicly claimed he met with the federal America 250 team to plan "revival meetings sponsored by the U.S. government." A major prayer event on the National Mall will "rededicate our country as one nation under God," according to the Freedom 250 launch video.

More details on the evidence compiled by Natural Resources Committee Democrats can be found HERE.

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