Thinking it will help Democrats, Mitch McConnell doesn't want federal employees to get Election Day off

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

last updated 31 January 2019

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not want to make Election Day a federal holiday, arguing that it would put "taxpayers on the hook" for this "generous" benefit.

McConnell took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to rail against H.R. 1, a bill Democrats are pushing that would make Election Day a holiday for federal workers. Under the bill, which would also enact automatic voter registration and tackle campaign finance, federal employees would be able to take off six days to work at a polling place. This is a "power grab" by Democrats, McConnell said. "Just what America needs, a bunch of government workers being paid to go out and work for I assume ... our colleagues on the other side, on their campaigns." The bill says nothing about federal workers being paid to work for any political party.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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