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.
Democrats were quick to respond, with Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) saying that voting "is a power grab. By citizens." Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) tweeted that voting is "democracy, and it's literally the entire point of our representative government. And by the way: Not only should Election Day be a federal holiday, we need automatic voter registration and universal mail voting, too."
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