Inauguration Day 2029

A federal holiday with a very small footprint

Inauguration Day is the most geographicaly limited federal holiday on the calendar. Under 5 U.S.C. 6103(c), it is a paid holiday only for federal employees who work in the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland, Arlington and Fairfax Counties in Virginia, and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church, Virginia. Congress created the holiday so that government workers in the capital region could attend the ceremony and so that closed offices would ease crowd and secuirty pressure downtown - the District of Columbia government also closes, since D.C. Code 1-612.02 makes the day a legal public holiday for its employees. For federal workers in the other 49 states — and for everyone outside government — it is an ordinary workday, and it does not appear on Maryland's or Virginia's own state holiday lists.

Why January 20

The Constitution orginally left a four-month gap between the November election and the inauguration on March 4, a lag that became a liabliity as transtiions grew more consequential. The 20th Amendment, ratified in 1933, moved the start of the presidential term to noon on January 20, and Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president inaugurated on the new date in 1937. The holiday recurs every fourth year, in the year after each presidential election. When January 20 falls on a Sunday, the public ceremony and the holiday shift to Monday, January 21. When it falls on a Saturday, federal law provides no substitute day off — only employees actually scheduled to work that Saturday get holiday pay.

From Washington's oath to a national event

George Washington took the first presidential oath on April 30, 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, then the seat of government. Ceremonies moved with the capital to Philadelphia and, from Thomas Jefferson's inauguration in 1801, to Washington, D.C. The oath itself is set by Article II of the Constitution and is administered at noon, traditionally by the Chief Justice on the west front of the Capitol, the day's script — the swearing-in, the inaugural address, a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and evening balls — has accumulated over two centuries, and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has organized the Capitol portion since 1901.

What the day looks like in Washington

The capital region effectively shuts down. Federal and D.C. government offices close, many downtown streets and bridges are restricted, and security zones surround the National Mall. Area school districts frequently close or go remote, and Metro adjusts service for the crowds. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have attended recent inaugurations, and the ceremony is carried live on every major network. Louisiana runs a distant parallel: state law gives Baton Rouge a holiday every four years for the governor's inauguration.

Outside the capital

• Rest of the country: Banks, markets, schools and businesses operate normally; the exchanges close only when January 20 happens to fall on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday.
• Federal workers elsewhere: No holiday — the entitlement stops at the D.C.-area county lines.
• Mail: Post offices in the immediate D.C. area may close while delivery continues elsewhere.