In honor of America’s 250th birthday, Congress wants to bury a time capsule at the Capitol grounds to preserve this moment in history for a distant generation.
Under the bipartisan Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act, which passed the House unanimously by a voice vote on Wednesday, an often-divided Congress would have to decide which mementos best represent America in 2026, led by President Donald Trump.
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Lawmakers mused this week about what may be buried and sealed for another 250 years for a future Congress to open on July 4, 2276.
“I’d like to see a bottle of good ol’ East Tennessee moonshine,” Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) joked with the Washington Examiner. “By the way some people act around here, you’d think it’s all they drink.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) — who is known for her love of Celsius — seemed thrilled at the thought of throwing one in the capsule. The energy drink has become such a staple on Capitol Hill that the Washington Examiner reported last year that it has become the fuel for Congress.
“An empty Celsius can? I hadn’t thought of that. I’m actually just really pleased to hear that it’s going to include inanimate objects,” Lummis told the Washington Examiner.
The time capsule would contain important legislation or milestones, a message from this Congress to the future Congress, and other items that reflect history deemed important at the time of its burial. What makes it in the capsule would be determined by the speaker and minority leader of the House, and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate.
Whether Congress will still be standing strong when the nation reaches its 500th birthday is unknown, but this Congress wants to do its part to display what Washington was like 250 years earlier.
“I hope this time capsule represents the larger American story. As we navigate a time of deep division, partisanship, and growing threats to our democracy, I’m hopeful that the 250th anniversary will serve as a reminder of our shared responsibility to uphold liberty and equality for generations to come,” Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
While the founding fathers didn’t bury a time capsule for these lawmakers to uncover on America’s 250th birthday, Congress has dabbled in history-preserving ventures.
A widow of a Civil War veteran, Anna Deihm, created a similar keepsake by amassing mementos from the country’s centennial celebration in 1876, and it was opened in the Capitol in 1976 at a ceremony with President Gerald Ford. She collected several items into a roughly five-foot-tall safe — including pictures and names of public figures and government employees — but it was never buried at the Capitol.
Less than two decades after Deihm’s version of a capsule was opened, a trunk was discovered in the House Cannon Office Building containing committee assignments, letters, books and more from former Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon.
For current members of Congress who are clashing over widespread cuts to the federal workforce and funding programs, the time capsule offers a chance to preserve items they fear may no longer exist in 250 years.
“I think about it, especially where we are right now, I’d include a Social Security card,” Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) told the Washington Examiner of what he’d liked to see in the capsule.
Social Security has been a contentious topic in Washington. Billionaire Elon Musk is leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency in an effort to root out fraud and cut waste, including removing deceased people from the Social Security rolls.
“Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk wrote on X earlier this month as he has claimed to have IDed fraud.
Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) said he would like to see bipartisan legislation such as the PACT Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act.
The time capsule bill passed the House last year as the 118th Congress was coming to a close but was revitalized this year by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), the bill’s sponsor. The legislation now heads to the Senate with time before a possible burial ceremony in 2026.
Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.
