The United States Semiquincentennial Commission had 33 members when its first group was sworn in.
That original group included private citizens, members of Congress, and federal officials. The structure was intended to combine public experience, historical knowledge, and national representation in planning the 250th-anniversary observance.
The membership figure later changed. Amendments to the commission’s governing law increased the number of nonvoting ex officio federal officials, bringing the overall body to 36 members. Therefore, 33 describes the commission at its initial 2018 swearing-in, while 36 refers to the later expanded structure.
This distinction is a useful safeguard against confusing the commission’s founding membership with its later authorized membership. Both numbers appear in accounts of the organization, but they refer to different stages of its development.