Republicans’ Worst Excuses for Not Wanting a Juneteenth Federal Holiday

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Congress moved one step closer to making Juneteenth a federal holiday this week, as the House overwhelmingly passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Wednesday night following a unanimous vote in the Senate. 

The bill formally acknowledges and celebrates as a federal holiday the anniversary of the June 19, 1865, Union Army declaration that slavery had been abolished in Texas. Juneteenth is “the oldest known celebration of slavery’s demise,” as Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, the Houston Democrat who led the bill in the House, said in a statement.

That didn’t stop 14 Republicans from melting down for various reasons. 

More than a dozen House Republicans argued that we should get rid of another holiday in order to fit in Juneteenth (apparently one more is too many), that Juneteenth should be referred to as a day of independence rather than emancipation, and—of course—that acknowledging the end of slavery with a federal holiday is an insidious plot to indoctrinate Americans with the right’s latest boogeyman, critical race theory. 

Rep. Matt Rosendale, Montana’s sole representative, released a statement before the vote that started: “Let’s call an ace an ace.” 

“This is an effort by the Left to create a day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics as part of its larger efforts to make critical race theory the reigning ideology of our country,” Rosendale said. “Since I believe in treating everyone equally, regardless of race, and that we should be focused on what unites us rather than our differences, I will vote no.”

The bill was notably spearheaded in the Senate by Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and former member of Senate leadership—and hardly a Marxist. In a tweet, Cornyn called Rosendale’s statement “kooky.” 

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said he opposed the bill because it referred to Juneteenth as a day of independence rather than one of emancipation, apparently unaware of who was and wasn’t included in that whole “All men are created equal” part of the Declaration of Independence.

“This name needlessly divides our nation on a matter that should instead bring us together by creating a separate Independence Day based on the color of one’s skin,” Roy said. 

During deliberations over the bill, Rep. Brenda Lawarence, a Michigan Democrat, addressed those complaints. “I want to say to my white colleagues on the other side: Getting your independence from being enslaved in a country is different from a country getting independence to rule themselves,” she said. 

Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona released a video statement centering his objection around the bill’s name, lamenting that it couldn’t have been passed in a “harmonious” fashion—it passed over the objections of fewer than 3 percent of Congress—and whining that Republicans weren’t included enough in the process, although 195 House Republicans voted for the bill. 

"[The Democrats] weaponized this bill like they've weaponized everything else,” Biggs said. “They want to divide, and that's just a shame."

Meanwhile, other Republicans undermined Biggs’ argument by saying they opposed making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate, told AL.com that while the end of slavery was “huge for America” and just as important as the 4th of July, one more holiday is simply too much to give to America’s workers.

“The cost should have been offset by eliminating one of the other holidays so that taxpayers don’t once again have to foot the bill for paying millions of people not to work,” Brooks told AL.com. 

Asked to expand on which one, Brooks told AL.com: “I have some thoughts, but I’m not going to volunteer a holiday and get a group of folks unnecessarily mad at me unless it was going to be a trade-off.”

President Joe Biden will sign the bill Thursday during a ceremony at the White House.