Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Congress Bill Spotlight: Preventing Presidential Inaugurations on MLK Day, Like Trump’s

Congress Bill Spotlight: Preventing Presidential Inaugurations on MLK Day, Like Trump’s

Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States.

Getty Images, Pool

The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about, but that often don't get the right news coverage.

President Donald Trump falsely claimed his January 6, 2021 speech preceding the Capitol Building riot “had more people” in attendance than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.


What the bill does

In January, Trump's second inauguration coincidentally fell on MLK Day.

In response, the Proper Celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Inauguration Day Act would delay MLK Day by one day, to the third Tuesday in January, in years where it conflicts with a presidential inauguration.

The bill was introduced jointly by one Republican and one Democrat: Reps. Tom Barrett (R-MI7) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY5).

Why would MLK Day be moved, rather than the inauguration? The inauguration’s date is set by the Constitution’s 20th Amendment, while MLK Day is set by a 1983 federal law. So while it would take another constitutional amendment to move the inauguration, requiring higher numerical thresholds for ratification, it would only take a “regular” bill to change MLK Day.

Context

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday honoring the assassinated civil rights leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Time Magazine 1963 Person of the Year.

Inaugurations are always held on January 20. MLK Day is always commemorated on the third Monday in January, which occasionally happens to fall on January 20. (Even though Dr. King’s actual birthday was January 15.)

Ever since MLK Day was first celebrated as a federal holiday in 1986, it’s coincided with an inauguration only twice: 1997 for Bill Clinton’s second inaugural, plus 2025 for Trump’s.

The next such occurrence won’t happen again until 2053, seven presidential elections from now. For comparison, Vice President J.D. Vance was elected last November at age 40. If the vice president (or even the president) who’s inaugurated in 2053 is the same age, they’d only be 12 now.

What supporters say

Supporters argue that both major observances should receive their respective full credit and attention, rather than cannibalizing each other.

“[MLK] Day and Inauguration Day both have profound significance in the U.S., and neither should ever overshadow the other,” Rep. Barrett said in a press release. “Our bipartisan bill makes a simple but important change to ensure the peaceful transfer of power and Dr. King’s enduring legacy both receive the full recognition they deserve. [We should] preserve these momentous occasions that undoubtedly deserve their own days of celebration as a nation.”

Nothing in that press release, from either the Republican or Democratic cosponsor, explicitly mentions Trump.

What opponents say

One surprising opponent: MLK’s daughter Bernice King. She opposes Trump, yet still found a silver lining in his inauguration’s timing.

“A Trump win could potentially set in motion a perilous and oppressive presidential administration, that would undermine and deny the hard-fought battle for civil and human rights for which my parents and so many others sacrificed,” she said in an interview with The Independent.

Yet, “I’m glad that if it was going to happen, it happened on the King holiday, because Dr. King is still speaking to us.” Simultaneously honoring her father’s ideals demonstrates how “we have to commit ourselves to continuing the mission of protecting freedom, justice, and democracy in the spirit of my father.”

Odds of passage

Besides the two aforementioned bipartisan cosponsors, the bill has not attracted a single other cosponsor since its mid-March introduction.

It awaits a potential vote in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The Fulcrum recently covered the Honor Inauguration Day Act, another bill inspired by Trump’s 2025 inauguration. The American flag almost flew at half-staff at the Capitol Building during the ceremony, due to the government’s official 30-day mourning period for former President Jimmy Carter’s death. The bill would require the Stars and Stripes to fly at full height on inauguration days.

The difference is, while the MLK Day bill has bipartisan cosponsorship, that bill is entirely Republican.

Jesse Rifkin is a freelance journalist with the Fulcrum. Don’t miss his weekly report, Congress Bill Spotlight, every Friday on the Fulcrum. Rifkin’s writings about politics and Congress have been published in the Washington Post, Politico, Roll Call, Los Angeles Times, CNN Opinion, GovTrack, and USA Today.

SUGGESTIONS:

Congress Bill Spotlight: No Invading Allies Act

Congress Bill Spotlight: Suspending Pennies and Nickels for 10 Years

Congress Bill Spotlight: Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day Holiday Establishment Act

Congress Bill Spotlight: Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act

Read More

LGBTQ Refugees Came to America To Escape Discrimination. Now, They Live in Fear in the U.S.
blue and yellow abstract painting
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

LGBTQ Refugees Came to America To Escape Discrimination. Now, They Live in Fear in the U.S.

Salvadoran refugee Alberto, who is using a pseudonym out of safety concerns, did not feel secure in his own home. Being a gay man in a country known for state-sponsored violence and community rejection meant Alberto lived his life on high alert.

His family did not accept him. He says one family member physically attacked him because of his identity. He says he has been followed, harassed, and assaulted by police, accused of crimes he didn’t commit when he was studying to become a social worker. His effort to escape the rejection in his community left him, at one point, homeless and lost in a new city.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hand holding a little house with an orange roof. Conceptual image.

What domestic violence survivors in public housing need are more flexible options - and they need them now.

Getty Images, Catherine Falls Commercial

Make Housing More Secure, Not Less: Domestic Violence Survivors Need Safety

She called me while she walked her dog because it was the only time she could use the phone without being monitored by her husband. Reaching out to me as a program manager for domestic survivors in a major U.S. city, she wanted to see what her options were and where she and her seven-year-old son could go.

I went over the resources in the community for domestic violence survivors, which were few. The 35-year-old mother told me she had been in and out of domestic violence shelters over the years and could not stand to destabilize her son and herself yet again. She was living now in Section 8 housing.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Refines Military Strategy in Africa As Development Programs Face Cuts

Royal Moroccan Armed Forces service members and U.S. Army Soldiers hold an African Lion banner during a Moroccan F-16 flyover at the closing day of African Lion 2025 (AL25) at Tantan, Morocco, May 23, 2025.

By Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Mallett/U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

U.S. Refines Military Strategy in Africa As Development Programs Face Cuts

WASHINGTON – Both the Trump administration and its critics agree the U.S. risks losing influence in Africa to rivals like China and Russia. But while the administration argues its commercially driven foreign policy will reverse the trend, critics warn that retreating from development and diplomacy could deepen the problem.

Under the Trump administration, the U.S. plans to consolidate embassies, scale back USAID operations, and pivot towards a security and commercial driven approach on the continent. While U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) defense officials insist their core missions within Africa will remain intact, civilian experts and lawmakers argue that abandoning diplomatic and development tools opens the door for strategic competitors to fill the void and fails to take into account what would best benefit African countries.

Keep ReadingShow less
We Can Save Our Earth: Environment Opportunities 2025
a group of windmills in the sky above the clouds

We Can Save Our Earth: Environment Opportunities 2025

On May 8th, 2025, the Network for Responsible Public Policy (NFRPP) convened a session to discuss the future of the transition to clean energy in the face of some stiff headwinds caused by the new US administration led by Donald Trump. The panel included Dale Bryk, Director of State and Regional Policy at the Harvard Environmental and Energy Law Program and a Senior Fellow at the Regional Plan Association, and Dan Sosland, President of the Acadia Center. The discussion was moderated by Richard Eidlin, National Policy Director for Business for America.

 
 


Keep ReadingShow less