Congress created the commission behind America250 in 2016.
The United States Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016 established the federal body responsible for promoting and coordinating the 250th-anniversary observance. President Barack Obama signed the legislation, beginning the formal federal planning process a decade before the 2026 milestone.
The date is easy to confuse with later organizational developments. The commission selected the American Battlefield Trust as its nonprofit administrative partner in 2018, and the America250 Foundation was formed in 2019. Separately, the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act was passed in 2020 to authorize special 2026 coin designs. Those later dates concern implementation and commemorative products, not the commission’s creation.