Is the cost of another day off for federal workers meaningful relative to the national debt?
By Allegra Taylor
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NO
According to a 2017 calculation, the U.S. government pays its 1.97 million employees about $524 million a day. That sum represented about 0.013% of $4 trillion in spending in 2017, about .002%, or two one-thousandths of a percent, of the June 2020 national debt of $26.4 trillion.
Updated June 18, 2021: Congress approved Juneteenth as an eleventh federal holiday.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
FedSmith.com Cost of federal workforce
The Balance Current government spending
Treasury Direct Debt to the penny
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