Some People Get A Break On Inauguration Day

With less than a month left until President-elect Donald Trump's swearing in as the 45th president of the United States, many in D.C. are busy preparing for the big day. Several performers have already been announced (Jackie Evancho is singing the National Anthem, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Radio City Rockettes are performing), and now the final pieces of the event are coming together. As the swearing in of a new president is such a big event for the country, you may be wondering: Is Inauguration Day a holiday for D.C.?

Although Inauguration Day is not a federal holiday, it is a holiday for federal employees in the Washington, D.C. area. According to the Office of Personnel Management, this applies to federal employees in D.C., Montgomery and Prince George counties in Maryland, Arlington and Fairfax counties, as well as the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church in Virginia. Those employees will receive Jan. 20 off this year. The office also specifies that if inauguration day ever falls on a Sunday, then the employees would have the following Monday, Jan. 21 off.

As noted by the Federal News Radio, federal employees will have a three-day work week during the inauguration, since Monday, Jan. 16 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the inauguration falls on that Friday this year.

It's probably a good thing for everyone that federal employees have the day off. Inauguration Day is busy for the D.C. area, and security is already a stressful situation without people having to get through it all to go to work. As acting OPM director Beth Colbert pointed out in a memo, the inauguration holiday for federal employees serves as a chance for them to attend the ceremony and keep traffic issues down. "The legislative history states that the holiday was established to allow employees working in the inauguration day area to attend the nearby inaugural ceremonies," she wrote, "and to avoid the traffic problems and work disruptions that would occur if employees were required to report for duty."

Though, considering the big names who attended previous inaugurations (Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson performed at President Barack Obama's), Trump's may be slightly underwhelming in terms of star power. Nevertheless, it is a historic day to have a new president sworn in. Trump even claimed he doesn't care about celebrities attending, tweeting, "The so-called "A" list celebrities are all wanting tix to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE!" And the people are what Trump just might get.