Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, holds the unique distinction of being the date of both the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States and the federal holiday honoring the birth of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A 2025 calendar oddity generated the coincidence of the two national traditions, one constitutionally mandated and one federally enacted.
The 20th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States specifies that the incoming administration’s president will be sworn in on Jan. 20 after the election takes place. In 1933, the 20th Amendment was ratified, Section 1 stating:
“The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.”
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law, which designated the third Monday in January a federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (King was born on Jan. 15, 1929.) Introduced just four days after King’s assassination in 1968, the law took 15 years for the federal government to pass, and another 17 years before all 50 states recognized it.
While it is not exceedingly rare for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to fall on Jan. 20 — before this year it has happened six times since 1983 — it is unusual for it to happen in an inaugural year. That has only happened once before, during President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997. The next time it will happen is in the year 2053.
Another tradition attached to the King Holiday Bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994. The King Holiday and Service Act was proposed by the late Rep. John Lewis and the late former Sen. Harris Wofford to encourage fellow citizens to find common causes to help give back to their communities and help them thrive. On the holiday, many citizens participate in the MLK Day of Service, “A Day On, Not a Day Off.”
Given that our elected officials often attend ceremonies and events for both occasions, Baltimore Fishbowl reached out members of Maryland’s congressional delegation who represent Baltimore and the surrounding area to see what their plans were for Monday regarding inaugural activities and observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland’s 1st Congressional District) is the lone Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation. Harris represents Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester, and Somerset counties and parts of Baltimore, Carroll, and Harford counties. His office did not yet respond to Fishbowl’s inquiry regarding either inaugural or MLK Jr. Day activities.
Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District) represents parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties and Baltimore City. His spokesperson told Fishbowl that he will be attending the inauguration.
Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District) represents parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, and Montgomery counties and Baltimore City. Her spokesperson told Fishbowl in an email that she plans to attend the inauguration on Monday.
Elfreth’s team will attend the Annual Anne Arundel NAACP MLK Civil Rights Breakfast on Jan. 20. On Jan. 15, to honor King’s life and legacy, Elfreth attended the 37th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Dinner in Anne Arundel County. Her team also attended Howard County’s Annual MLK Jr. Holiday Celebration and the Alpha Foundation of Howard County’s 50th Annual MLK Jr. Memorial Celebration while she was at orientation on the weekend before his birthday.
Rep. Glenn F. Ivey (D-Maryland’s 4th Congressional District) represents parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties. His spokesperson, Ramón Korionoff, told Fishbowl that Ivey will not be attending the inauguration. He has only attended one inauguration, and that was for a friend. Ivey “will be busy with community service projects and is choosing to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that day. One service activity will be a fraternity/sorority effort and the other is church related.”
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland’s 5th Congressional District) represents Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties, and parts of Anne Arundel, and Prince George’s counties. His spokesperson told Fishbowl in an email that “Mr. Hoyer plans to attend the inaugural ceremony at the Capitol on Monday to support the peaceful transfer of power.”
Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Maryland’s 6th Congressional District) represents Allegany, Garrett, and Washington counties, and parts of Frederick and Montgomery counties. A spokesperson for McClain Delaney told Fishbowl in an email that she will be attending the inauguration.
“Rep. McClain Delaney is planning to attend the 2024 Presidential inauguration. The Congresswoman deeply believes in our democratic institutions and upholding the peaceful transfer of power, and, equally important, recognizes her responsibility as a member of congress to represent all residents of Maryland’s 6th District–Democrat, Independent, or Republican.”
Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Maryland’s 7th Congressional District) represents parts of Baltimore City, and Baltimore and Howard counties. He will not be attending the presidential inauguration on Monday. His spokesperson sent the following statement:
“Congressman Kweisi Mfume will not be in attendance for the inauguration of President-elect Trump that falls on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Congressman spent years at the forefront of the fight to establish MLK Day as a national holiday and then later to establish it as a National Day of Service. As such, his entire day is spent every year engaging in acts of service out of respect for Dr. King’s legacy.”
Mfume will spend the day of service on Jan. 20 serving meals and volunteering at Baltimore’s Our Daily Bread Employment Center, visiting with veterans at Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training (MCVET), then celebrating King’s legacy by marching in Baltimore City’s annual MLK Day parade.
The congressman shares more of his reasoning and itinerary in an editorial published on King’s birthday, in which he wrote, “As I reflect back on the life of Dr. King, I am reminded of a man who was unawed by opinion, unseduced by flattery, and undismayed by disaster. He confronted life with the courage of his convictions, and then confronted death with the courage of his faith.” Read the full editorial here.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland’s 8th District) represents parts of Carroll, Frederick, and Montgomery counties. A spokesperson from his office told Fishbowl that he will not be attending the indoor inauguration. They wrote the following:
“Rep. Raskin will spend MLK weekend in the community, as the keynote speaker at Maryland’s local Alpha Phi Alpha’s 48th Annual MLK, Jr. Breakfast in Bethesda on Saturday and joining union activists and leaders at the Labor Heritage Foundation Ball in Silver Spring on Sunday. On Monday, he will join Manna Food Center’s Advocacy Task Force at Bethesda’s KID Museum for a program where kids and parents will use the museum’s maker space to create art inspired by Dr. King’s dream of a ‘Beloved Community’ and children will express their dreams for America. Congressman Raskin will not be attending the indoor inauguration ceremony.”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland) plans to attend the inauguration on Monday.
“I will be attending the inauguration because, regardless of whether one voted for President Trump, I believe Marylanders deserve to have a presence during the peaceful transition of power,” Alsobrooks wrote in an email to Fishbowl.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) plans to attend events honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the inauguration.
“Every year, I join Marylanders in honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his mission to strengthen democracy and promote equal rights in America, and on Monday, I look forward to doing that,” Van Hollen wrote in an email to Fishbowl. “Despite my deep concerns with the incoming administration, I will also attend the inauguration on Monday to uphold our democratic traditions, including the peaceful transition of power. Over the next four years, I will continue working every single day to protect the pillars of our democracy and to represent our great state and the values we hold so dear.”
*Note: Since this article was written, it was announced that the inauguration ceremony will be moved inside the Capitol due to frigid temperatures forecast for Monday. This article will be updated if we are made aware of any changes in the Maryland delegation’s plans.
