The United States Semiquincentennial Commission was created on July 22, 2016, to plan the America250 commemoration.
Congress established the commission through Public Law 114–196, which President Barack Obama signed in 2016. The law gave the federal government a formal structure for preparing the 250th-anniversary observance rather than leaving planning entirely to individual states, cities, or private organizations.
The commission was designed as a bipartisan body. Its membership included members of Congress, private citizens, and federal officials, reflecting the national scope of the anniversary. The law also assigned responsibilities involving commemorative coins, postage stamps, and appropriately named naval vessels.
The commission’s creation date is sometimes confused with the date its first members were sworn in. That later ceremony took place at Independence Hall on November 16, 2018. A 2020 amendment changed several administrative details, but it did not create the commission itself.