Which presidents have proposed changing or eliminating federal holidays in U.S. history?
Executive summary
There is no single, authoritative list in the provided sources that names every U.S. president who has proposed changing or eliminating federal holidays; available sources emphasize that Congress creates and changes federal holidays, with presidents able to sign legislation, proclaim observances, and on rare occasions declare single-year federal holidays (e.g., Christmas Eve 2020) [1] [2] [3]. Contemporary headlines note President Donald Trump proposed adding two federal holidays in 2025, but the sources do not present a comprehensive historical roster of presidents who have sought to abolish or alter federal holidays [4] [3].
1. How federal holidays are created — and why presidents aren’t the whole story
Federal holidays are set by federal law (5 U.S.C. § 6103), meaning Congress establishes or amends them and the President signs or vetoes that legislation; the Office of Personnel Management then implements holiday rules for federal employees [2] [5]. Presidential proclamations can designate observances or single-day closures for federal employees in limited circumstances, but such proclamations are distinct from codified federal holidays and do not permanently add or remove holidays [6] [1].
2. Presidents who expanded the holiday calendar — signing new holidays into law
Some presidents have played visible roles in expanding the calendar by signing congressional bills into law. For example, Ronald Reagan signed the bill creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983, turning a long-running campaign into a federal holiday whose first official observance followed in later years [1] [7]. This underlines that presidential action on holidays typically comes at the end of a legislative process led by Congress [5].
3. Presidents who use proclamations and one-off holidays
Presidents frequently issue proclamations for national observances or mourning days; those are not the same as statutory federal holidays [6]. Presidents can and sometimes do declare one-time closures for federal employees — for instance, President Donald Trump declared Christmas Eve 2020 a federal holiday for that year, a move media outlets noted was temporary and not a permanent change to the federal holiday list [3]. Such executive declarations can create short-term public confusion when they are described with broader language by officials or media [3].
4. Proposals to change holiday names or dates have often been congressional debates, not unilateral presidential moves
Longstanding changes — like the transformation of Washington’s Birthday into the popularly named “Presidents’ Day” celebration on a Monday under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act — were congressional initiatives discussed in the 1960s and enacted by Congress; Congress debated whether to rename or expand the February holiday to include Lincoln and other presidents, and the popular name “Presidents’ Day” emerged largely through usage rather than a single presidential decree [8] [9]. This demonstrates the limited role presidents play in initiating structural holiday reforms compared with Congress [5].
5. Recent political proposals: presidents asking for more holidays, not fewer
Recent reporting emphasizes presidents proposing additional holidays rather than eliminating them. Coverage in 2025 reported that President Donald Trump sought to add two new federal holidays, a contemporary example of presidential advocacy for expanding the federal holiday calendar; the reporting treats this as a proposal requiring congressional action [4]. The selected sources do not document presidents campaigning to eliminate established federal holidays.
6. Limits of the available reporting and what’s not found
Available sources in this packet do not provide a comprehensive historical list naming every president who formally proposed altering or abolishing federal holidays; they focus on the legal framework, notable additions (e.g., MLK Day), the Uniform Monday Holiday Act debate, and recent one-off proclamations or proposals [1] [2] [8] [3] [4]. The sources do not, for example, list presidents who explicitly sought to remove holidays such as Columbus Day or Veterans Day; therefore, a definitive answer naming all presidents who have proposed changes or eliminations is not found in the current reporting (not found in current reporting).
7. Takeaway for readers
If your question aims to identify presidents who have actively pushed to change or eliminate federal holidays, the evidence in these sources shows presidential involvement tends to be limited to signing congressional bills, issuing proclamations for observances or one-time closures, or publicly proposing additions (e.g., Trump in 2025); structural changes to the federal holiday calendar have historically been driven by Congress [2] [1] [4]. For a definitive, president-by-president list, further research into congressional records and historical executive communications beyond these sources would be required (not found in current reporting).