Barack Obama signed the 2016 law creating the commission that planned the America250 commemoration.
The United States Semiquincentennial Commission Act became law on July 22, 2016. It established a congressional commission responsible for planning, encouraging, developing, and coordinating observances leading up to the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The commission was designed as a bipartisan body involving members of Congress, private citizens, and federal officials. Its work helped create the national framework later presented under the America250 name.
The law did not create the United States or establish Independence Day; those events belong to the Revolutionary era. Instead, it created a modern planning structure for a future anniversary. President Obama was in office when the legislation was enacted, even though the commemoration itself took place in 2026.