Federal employees will be off Thursday in honor of Juneteenth, but don’t expect agencies to make a big deal about the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
President Donald Trump has been on a tear against diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, in and outside the federal workplace, canceling grants and laying off government staffers who worked in the field. But that campaign, which has axed millions of dollars in taxpayer funds, seemingly won’t touch Juneteenth.
“Juneteenth is a federal holiday so the federal workforce has the day off just like any other federal holiday,” Office of Personnel Management spokesperson McLaurine Pinover told POLITICO’s E&E News. “No additional guidance has been sent to agencies from OPM.”
Yet the day is not being celebrated as it had under the Biden administration, according to federal employees granted anonymity because they feared retribution.
