Facebook Gains Inside Role in U.S. 250th Anniversary Project

The deal was made over objections from staff members, people familiar with the matter said, who argued it gave Facebook too much influence over a government project and provided special access and privileges that could deter other companies from joining as sponsors. The details haven’t been disclosed to the full 36-member commission, which Congress established in 2016 to organize observances leading up to July 4, 2026, these people said.

“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,” said Commissioner Andrew Hohns, chief executive of Philadelphia investment firm Newmarket Capital, in an interview.

Mr. DiLella declined interview requests

On Wednesday, the commission is scheduled to vote on a package of proposals backed by Mr. DiLella that would provide blanket approval of previous actions the foundation has taken without explicit authority from the federal agency.

Other provisions would give Mr. DiLella stronger control over the commission, with power to appoint officers and committee members, limit commissioners’ participation in meetings and withhold information from both the public and other commissioners, the proposal says.

The proposals are intended to streamline commission operations because there has been difficulty assembling a quorum, the introduction says. It adds that 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.”

“The Governance Committee spent more than 100 hours, including 14 hours in meetings deliberating on comments and suggestions,” to improve commission procedures, America250 spokesman Michael Frazier said in a statement. The committee members either declined to comment or didn’t respond to interview requests.

If approved, the package could buttress Mr. DiLella’s hold on a project that dissenting commissioners and a lawsuit by former employees claim has been undermined by mismanagement, favoritism and sex discrimination. Mr. Frazier said Mr. DiLella is “committed to engaging an independent investigator to review these claims” and hoped to begin a review within 30 days.

Mr. Frazier released a statement Sunday saying that America250 followed “a standard approach” with the Facebook sponsorship and that the commission’s development and executive committees “were informed during the process. In addition, the full Commission has been informed of this potential corporate sponsorship as well. A larger public announcement has been pending.”

Facebook said it was reviewing its association with America250 after The Wall Street Journal reported in February that four female executives had resigned in protest from the organization over what they called a toxic workplace and a coverup of improper expenditures and invoices by a vice president, among other complaints.

“We understood this to be a standard corporate sponsorship aimed at celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, which is why we agreed to participate and support,” a Meta spokesman said. “We’re reviewing this report and evaluating our participation.”

The governance proposals come in the aftermath of the commission’s contentious meeting in September, during which three members challenged Mr. DiLella’s leadership.

“We think it is time for Congress to conduct oversight hearings on the management, hiring, contracting, and financial practices of the Commission and the Foundation, and on how the Commission has spent its federal appropriation,” $20 million so far, Commissioner James Swanson, an author and former Republican Justice Department official, said at the September meeting, according to a transcript.

Some commissioners say they are troubled by Mr. DiLella’s latest plans.

“I would not be comfortable with rubber stamping everything that has been done over the past three years,” former Rep. Joseph Crowley (D., N.Y.), who held a commission seat reserved for lawmakers until leaving Congress in 2019 and was reappointed in October 2021 as a private citizen, said in an interview.

The America250 Foundation was created, in part, to marshal private-sector support for the Semiquincentennial. According to an internal finance report that was viewed by the Journal, as of December the foundation primarily was funded by the commission it is intended to support, which had transferred $11.8 million of its congressional appropriations to the nonprofit.

The second-highest revenue source was $2 million contributed by an unnamed “national sponsor.” That sponsor is Facebook, which pledged to pay the foundation $10 million in installments under an agreement signed in June by Scott Hommel, America250’s chief operating officer then serving as interim chief executive, and Josh Ginsberg, Meta’s vice president for public affairs marketing, the documents show.

The contract makes Facebook the Semiquincentennial’s exclusive “social connectivity” partner, entitled to use America250 branding and to help plan and present the commemorations. It provides Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg a seat on a Semiquincentennial Corporate Leadership Council.

The agreement says “America250 will support Facebook’s efforts to catalog National Parks and Landmarks.” People familiar with the arrangement say that clause refers to Meta’s virtual-reality product Oculus, which wants to capture images by flying drones over federal property. Meta has asked America250 to arrange meetings with Interior Department officials regarding the matter, these people say.

The deal envisions outsourcing some Semiquincentennial observances to Meta. “Programs and platforms will be detailed to Facebook, and may include vetted influencers and content on each subject designed to encourage discourse among Facebook users,” it states.

The arrangement was brokered by 21 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Group Inc., which receives a 17% commission. The Greenwich, Conn., firm already has received $340,000, the internal finance report says.

Anna Laymon, then vice president of programs and planning for America250, took issue with the deal at a June meeting, according to an audio file of the meeting heard by the Journal. “This seems to me to give Facebook special access to a federal agency,” she said.

Rob Prazmark, a 21 Marketing principal, said in the recording that the arrangement had been approved by Thomas McGarrigle, a friend of Mr. DiLella who is serving as the foundation’s counsel.

Mr. Prazmark declined to comment. Mr. McGarrigle didn’t respond to an interview request. Ms. Laymon, who resigned in September, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

At a September meeting where America250 executives discussed strategies for recruiting Walmart Inc. as a sponsor, Renee Burchard, then chief administrative officer and chief of staff, warned that Facebook’s involvement could be a deal breaker for other companies.

“They’re getting some bad, bad press,” Ms. Burchard said, and “congressional hearings” on the company were under way. She cited Journal articles which last year documented social harms linked to Meta products such as Facebook and Instagram.

Corporate sponsors want “a safe, pure, nonpolitical, great place” to enhance their brands, Ms. Burchard said. “Facebook would make me go, ‘Uh, hold on a minute.’”

“I think Facebook’s a monster. And in a good way,” countered Thomas Shepard, another 21 Marketing executive.

Mr. Shepard didn’t respond to an interview request. Ms. Burchard resigned in December and is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

According to people familiar with the discussions, Walmart and several other companies have so far declined sponsorship invitations.

Write to Jess Bravin at jess.bravin+1@wsj.com