Sen. Schmitt Proposes Legislation to Create Easter Federal Holiday

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.

Easter is the holiest day in Christianity. It should be a federal holiday.

I'm introducing legislation to make it one.

Here's why. ? pic.twitter.com/ByjGcY3LtP

— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) April 14, 2025

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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.

The Missouri senator pointed out that most Western countries, and many non-Western ones, currently have a recognized Easter holiday.

This isn't a radical idea. It's a federal recognition of a tradition that is central to Western civilization—a tradition that's already recognized as a public holiday in nations across (and beyond!) the West, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most of Western Europe. pic.twitter.com/LGyz4FtsuP

— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) April 14, 2025

He noted that the proposed Easter holiday would not be “some boutique left-wing micro-holiday,” like “Trans Day of Visibility,” but would reflect the fact that more than three-quarters of Americans celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Creating a new holiday would have practical benefits too, Schmitt wrote.

“Easter weekend already generates around $15 billion for our economy,” Schmitt posted on his X thread. “Making it a three-day weekend could boost that by an estimated 10-15%, adding up to $2 billion in economic activity while strengthening American families.”

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts made a similar call to increase the recognition of Easter, and the importance of Christianity for the United States and the West.

“As Christians around the country reflect on that same story this Easter, we should resolve to transform our gratitude—for the political freedoms that our Founding Fathers fought for and the spiritual freedom that Christ died for—into action,” Roberts wrote in a joint Monday editorial with William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership.

They called for President Donald Trump and American leaders to “help return Christianity to its proper pride of place in our politics, both internationally and domestically.”