Lockheed Martin builds the missiles. ExxonMobil sells the gas. Palantir runs the surveillance. And all three are sponsors of the government’s 250th birthday party… through a private organization that doesn’t have to tell you who else is paying.

Freedom 250 was created by executive order in January 2025. It was designed to plan the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. But Congress had already created a bipartisan commission for that job… a decade earlier. That commission, America250, had been working since 2016. It had a congressional charter, bipartisan oversight, and $150 million in appropriated funds.

Then the money moved. As of April, the Interior Department had funneled at least $68 million in taxpayer grants to Freedom 250 through the National Park Foundation. Public Citizen tracked $103 million in total federal contracts flowing to Freedom 250 events. Meanwhile, America250 told Congress it had received only $25 million of the $100 million it expected… leaving a $100 million funding gap.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Congress he was “not aware of the final decision maker” on Freedom 250. Then he told a reporter it was “run out of the White House.” The board now includes Trump fundraiser Meredith O’Rourke and 2024 campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita. Corporate sponsors include Lockheed Martin, ExxonMobil, Oracle, Palantir, and UFC… all with active federal contracts or regulatory interests before the administration.

Freedom 250 does not disclose its donors. When asked if it would commit to transparency, CEO Keith Krach said: “We’re all about accountability and transparency.” He did not release the donor list.

Senator Alex Padilla put it plainly: “President Trump couldn’t help but try making America’s 250th birthday all about himself.” Eight states refused to send delegations. Most of the musicians pulled out. And the opening rally drew sparse crowds… despite Trump claiming 45,000 attended. The Great American State Fair is running on the National Mall through July 10. It features PragerU “Freedom Trucks,” a faith pavilion, MAHA Mondays, and a Ferris wheel. The bipartisan commission that spent a decade planning the celebration is running out of money.

BREAKING

The U.S. Has Functionally Lost Its Measles Elimination Status — and the CDC Just Ended Federal Testing

The United States earned its measles elimination status in the year 2000. As of last week, infectious disease experts at the University of Minnesota declared that status is over “in practice.” The data back them up. The CDC has confirmed 2,134 cases across 41 states in 2026 alone… with six months still left in the year. Three people are dead… two unvaccinated children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico.

Genome sequencing shows unbroken domestic transmission stretching back to the January 2025 Texas outbreak. That means more than 17 months of continuous spread… well past the 12-month threshold that defines the loss of elimination status. The Pan American Health Organization was supposed to formally review the U.S. status in April. It pushed the review to November.

And here is where the story turns. In late June, the CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases notified public health partners that the agency will stop offering federal measles diagnostic testing. The testing change comes alongside broader CDC budget cuts, staff departures, and the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization earlier this year. Vaccination exemptions among kindergartners hit a record 3.6%. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly questioned vaccine safety for years.

Philadelphia is hosting World Cup matches this summer. A multi-county measles outbreak is active 75 miles away. Measles has been detected in Pennsylvania wastewater bordering the city. And the federal government just removed its backstop for diagnostic testing… during the worst outbreak in more than three decades.

EXPOSED

A Judge Told the Government It Can’t Redefine the Word “Food”

The USDA approved waivers in 23 states allowing them to ban SNAP recipients from buying soda, candy, and energy drinks with their benefits. On June 22, a federal judge struck it down. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the agency had no authority to rewrite Congress’s definition of “food.”

“Congress defined what ‘food’ is supposed to be, and it did not authorize the agency to amend or waive the definition it enacted,” Jackson wrote. The USDA also failed to post the required 30-day notice in the Federal Register before launching the pilot programs.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called the ruling the work of “an activist judge.” HHS Secretary Kennedy said taxpayers “should not be forced to pay for products that make people sick.” Both framed it as a public health fight. But follow the money in the other direction. Research firm Numerator estimated the bans would cost soda and candy companies $830 million in annual sales. The same administration that says it wants Americans to eat healthier has cut CDC funding, ended federal measles testing, and withdrawn from the WHO.

SNAP serves roughly 42 million Americans. The average monthly benefit is about $6 per person per day. Plaintiffs in the case included recipients who said the bans would make it harder for people with diabetes to access drinks they use to manage blood sugar emergencies.

The administration has not said whether it will appeal. If it wants a nationwide ban, it will need Congress to change the law. And Congress… is busy reversing its own war powers votes and funding birthday parties.

DEVELOPING

1,719 Dead. 46,000 Missing. And the Global Response System Is Being Dismantled.

Twin earthquakes hit Venezuela on June 24… magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, 39 seconds apart. As of Sunday, the official death toll stands at 1,719 with more than 46,600 still missing. The USGS estimated a 30% chance the final toll exceeds 100,000. Physical damage is estimated at $6.7 billion… roughly 6% of the country’s entire GDP.

International rescue teams from 27 countries deployed over 2,200 specialists. Rescuers pulled survivors from rubble past the 106-hour mark. But Venezuela’s infrastructure was already crumbling before the ground shook. Years of sanctions, economic collapse, and political isolation left buildings uninspected and emergency systems underfunded. Engineers traced the worst collapses to housing rushed into construction under Chávez’s government after the 1999 floods… buildings that never met seismic codes.

The U.S. sent search-and-rescue teams. Trump and Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez have been in “constant contact.” But the broader system that coordinates global disaster response has been weakened. The U.S. withdrew from the WHO. USAID has been gutted. CDC staffing is down. The very agencies designed to mobilize during crises like this have fewer resources than they did a year ago.

Three Americans are confirmed dead. Twelve remain missing. Human rights group PROVEA has called for independent verification of the death toll after noticing discrepancies in government updates… including a count that went down between reports. The 72-hour rescue window has passed. The digging continues. And the next disaster is always closer than the last.

They rely on the shadows.
It’s time to turn on the lights.