Bipartisan lawmakers unveil congressional time capsule to be opened in 2276

A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a congressional time capsule on Capitol Hill on June 24, 2026. The capsule will be sealed for 250 years until July 4, 2276. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the event offered a chance to share what America looks like today and what the country hopes the future holds.

“The congressional time capsule is a reflection of our faith in the future of this grand experiment of self-governing,” Johnson said. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sen. Shelley Capito (R-WV), Rep. Watson Coleman (D-NJ), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also attended.

Jeffries said the items inside “embody today’s American experience” and expressed hope that members of the 244th Congress would learn from the contents when the capsule opens. The Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule Act directed the Architect of the Capitol to create the container.

It measures 4 feet wide, 2.5 inches deep, and 4 feet tall, with a passage from the Declaration of Independence on the front.

Architect of the Capitol Thomas Austin said the size was needed to tell the story of Congress and the American people. The capsule will be buried in the Capitol Visitor Center. On July 4, 2276, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader will unseal it for the 244th Congress.

This marks the second congressional attempt to prepare a time capsule; the Senate rejected the first effort in 1876. In 1876, Anna Deihm assembled one that President Gerald Ford opened on July 1, 1976. A separate capsule organized by America250 will be buried on July 4, 2026, at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, creating two distinct time capsules for the semiquincentennial.