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Capitol Hill 4th of July concert could be cancelled as House debates on Big Beautiful Bill

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Updated  July 3, 2025 11:53am EDT
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FOX 5 DC
House debate on 'Big Beautiful Bill' could derail 4th of July concert

House debate on 'Big Beautiful Bill' could derail 4th of July concert

Thousands are expected to head down to the National Mall on Friday for 4th of July fireworks but there are concerns about the House debate on the Big Beautiful Bill putting a different celebration on the Mall at risk.

The Brief

    • As of now, the Capitol 4th of July concert is happening.
    • There’s a 2002 law that prevents concerts from interfering with Congress unless there’s a decision from House or Senate leadership saying otherwise.
    • The conversation comes as the Trump administration's "Big Beautiful Bill" could put the House in session Friday.

WASHINGTON - Thousands are expected to head down to the National Mall on Friday for 4th of July fireworks but there are concerns about the House debate on the Big Beautiful Bill putting a different celebration on the Mall at risk.

The law:

A 4th of July concert set to take place on the Capitol Grounds could be halted if the House is still debating the bill on Friday. Setup for the concert is still underway and a lot of the infrastructure is in place and as of right now, this concert is happening.

But FOX News Capitol Hill correspondent Chad Pergram flagged a 2002 law in a tweet Tuesday afternoon, showing that federal law says bands are permitted on Capitol grounds, but cannot interfere with Congress. Pergram notes that this is currently being studied, and House or Senate Leadership could ultimately make the call here.

Uncertainty over July Fourth celebrations

Uncertainty over July Fourth celebrations

If the House passes the Big National Bill, that will have serous national implications. But as debate continues, it could also impact a celebration of the nation's birthday. FOX 5's Stephanie Ramirez has the latest.

Concerts can happen "at times which will not interfere with Congress and as authorized by the Architect of the Capitol," the law says.

Typically, the house is not in session on July 4th, and there’s still no guarantee it will be this year. But that’s why this hasn’t come up much before this week.

The 'Big Beautiful Bill':

Fox 5 reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.  His staff responded by saying this was a fluid situation and to check back in Thursday.

 The Senate passed it’s version of the Big Beautiful Bill earlier this week. The question now is how long it’ll take the house to bring this up for a vote, raising the prospects that the House could be in session Friday.

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