Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar, should have its own federal holiday, according to a Republican senator.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., wrote in an X thread Monday that he introduced legislation to create a federal holiday for Easter. It would fall on the Monday after Easter Sunday.
Schmitt wrote that while “81%” of Americans celebrate Easter, “our current holiday schedule makes it way too difficult for families to celebrate together.” Easter falls on the longest unbroken schedule of workdays, Schmitt wrote, with March and April being the only back-to-back months without a holiday.
“Easter is a floating holiday, it can fall from Mar 22 to April 25. The only two-month gap in our federal holiday calendar is April-May,” Schmitt wrote. “An Easter Monday holiday fills the gap—creating a three-day weekend when workers and families need it most.”
Schmitt said that such a holiday wouldn’t be unusual in America and that we already have a “National Day of Prayer” that was signed into law by President Harry Truman.
“A federal Easter Monday holiday allows Americans to celebrate the most extraordinary day in world history, Easter—the day of Christ’s resurrection,” Schmitt wrote.