In exchange for $10 million to the non-profit America250 Foundation, Meta Platforms has reportedly signed on as the official social media partner of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Reports say the firm will be integrally involved in producing and promoting the Semiquincentennial and events leading up to and on July 4, 2026. However, the move has been described as controversial, with some stakeholders concerned Meta’s insider status may deter other companies from buying sponsorships. The agreement is expected to be up for a vote today in Pennsylvania.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a contract has been signed after being approved by Daniel DiLella, a Pennsylvania realty investment executive and former president of Girard Bank who is chairman of both the America250 Foundation and the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, a federal agency created to support it.

“Both entities share a website and together present themselves as America250,” WSJ writes. The 36-member commission was established by Congress in 2016 to organize observances.

But commissioner Andrew Hohns, CEO of the Philadelphia-based  Newmarket Capital, says not so fast. “According to the policies and procedures of the commission, any contracts that include the use of the commission’s logo, brand, or identity require the vote of the commission. No such vote has ever been presented or taken regarding this contract,” Hohns told WSJ, which details a brewing storm that threatens to rock the cradle of festivities.

Today’s vote on a package of proposals will apparently seek retroactive approval of the Meta contract — which WSJ says “makes Facebook the Semiquincentennial’s exclusive ‘social connectivity’ partner”— as well as some organizational changes in what appears to be shaping up as another battle of independence.

“The proposals are intended to streamline commission operations because there has been difficulty assembling a quorum,” WSJ says the proposal indicates, stating “the commission’s September meeting, where Mr. Hohns and two other commissioners asked for an accounting of public funds, was marred by ‘a lack of decorum and respect for fellow Commissioners.’”

An America250 spokesman issued a statement to WSJ explaining that “’the Governance Committee spent more than 100 hours, including 14 hours in meetings deliberating on comments and suggestions,’ to improve commission procedures,” and those recommendations form the substance of the vote.

But allegations of America250 “mismanagement, favoritism and sex discrimination” and a lawsuit by former employees has Meta reconsidering its involvement, according to WSJ. The newspaper reports it was told that DiLella plans to have an independent investigation of the claims underway within 30 days.

As would be typical of such a commemoration, the America250 Foundation was formed in large part to marshal private-sector funding for the Semiquincentennial. But as of December, WSJ says the foundation was primarily financed by the commission, “which had transferred $11.8 million of its congressional appropriations to the non-profit,” according to internal documents it says it reviewed.