Tuesday Fed Holiday- Sorta

“Washington Post
December 29, 2006
Pg. 19

President Declares Tuesday A National Day Of Mourning

By Michael Abramowitz and Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post Staff Writers

CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 28 -- President Bush declared a national day of mourning and ordered the federal government to close Tuesday to mark the death of Gerald R. Ford. Financial markets will be partially closed in observation of his passing as well.

Bush opted not to cut short a week-long stay at his ranch here to return for Saturday night's ceremony, when Ford's body will be brought to the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. But Bush and first lady Laura Bush will head immediately to the Capitol upon their return to Andrews Air Force Base on Monday to pay respects at the casket.

Bush will also deliver remarks at Ford's funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, the White House announced. Spokesman Scott Stanzel said Vice President Cheney, a former Ford White House chief of staff, will speak Saturday at the Capitol ceremony.

Stanzel refused to be drawn into a discussion of whether the president considered abridging his time in Crawford.

The president "will look forward on Monday and Tuesday to honoring the life of President Ford," Stanzel said. He noted that Bush's participation will mirror his involvement in Ronald Reagan's funeral in June 2004 and added that the president offered the Ford family one of the executive jets normally used as Air Force One.

Bush will not be the only major political figure to miss the Saturday ceremony. Most of the Democratic leaders, who take over Congress next Thursday, will be absent. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will not be at the Capitol on Saturday but will attend the cathedral service Tuesday, her office said. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) are traveling in Latin America, along with Republican Sens. Judd Gregg (N.H.) and Robert F. Bennett (Utah), and are not due back until Tuesday evening, meaning they will miss all the Ford events.

House Majority Leader-elect Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) will be on hand to greet Ford's body on Saturday, as will most leading Republicans, including outgoing House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.), incoming House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio), incoming House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) and incoming Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), according to aides.

Bush has offered words of praise for Ford since his death on Tuesday, but the president had reason to be unhappy with sentiments expressed by the 38th president and published Thursday in The Washington Post. In an interview with The Post's Bob Woodward in 2004, Ford said Bush and his team "made a mistake" in how they justified the Iraq war and said he would not have ordered the 2003 invasion, which toppled Saddam Hussein and has led to more than 3 1/2 years of warfare.

Ford gave the interview on the condition that his remarks not be reported until after his death. The White House made no comment on the former president's criticism.”

“Yes. DC has a 4 day weekend. The New Year will be greeted with mucho pain.”

“I am stoked!!”

“1. The President has signed an Executive Order closing all government departments and agencies on 2 January 2007 as a mark of respect for former President Gerald Ford. The Commanding General delegates authority to Deputy Commanders and the Chief of Staff to retain those employees to support and conduct military operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism, to maintain the health, safety and protection of Army personnel and facilities and to ensure the continuance of their organization's continuance of mission essential functions. It is incumbent upon all supervisors and leaders to ensure this message is adequately communicated to all employees -- especially those employees who are deemed necessary to report to work, those on that are on leave or scheduled for leave on 2 Jan 07.

2. For Federal civilian employees, OPM has issued guidance clarifying that for pay and leave purposes 2 Jan 07, will be treated as falling within the scope of statutes and executive orders governing holidays for Federal employees. Federal civilian employees are covered by one of the three categories below:

a. Holiday excusal on Federal holidays. Employee is excused from work and entitled to basic pay. This means that 2 Jan 07 will be treated like a Federal holiday for pay and leave purposes. Federal civilian employees need not request leave and will still be paid for the normal work day. An employee who was previously scheduled to take annual leave or any other form of paid time off, on 2 Jan 07, will not be charged annual leave (or any other form of paid leave, compensatory time off, or credit hours) for that day.

b. Holiday premium pay for employees required to work. Employees required to work will receive holiday premium pay (equal to 100 percent of the rate of basic pay) for non-overtime hours of work that fall within the hours regularly scheduled on the holiday, 2 Jan 07. Employees who work on the holiday (for their regular number of hours) will be entitled to holiday pay and "compensatory time" is not a viable option.

c. "In Lieu of" holidays when holidays fall on non workdays. In the case of employees for whom a holiday falls on a nonworkday, (e.g., regular day off - RDO), the employee's next workday will be the designated "in lieu of" holiday because the timing of the DA notification does not allow for taking the previous day off. (See 5 U.S.C. 6103(b)). This means that employees on Compressed Work schedules who have Tuesday, 2 Jan 07, as their RDO are entitled to take Wednesday, 3 Jan 07 off due to the official closure.

d. If an employee has scheduled "use or lose" annual leave for 2 Jan 07, and is unable to reschedule that leave for use before the end of the leave year (i.e., 6 Jan 07), the leave will be forfeited. When "use or lose" leave is forfeited under these conditions, there is no authority that permits restoration of the leave.

e. The Defense Civilian Pay System (DCPS) will be modified to add 2 Jan 07 to the DCPS Local Holiday Table. This will allow entry of Holiday Leave (LH) on that day. If employees must work that day, the appropriate Holiday Premium code (HG, HF, HS, HT, HC) should be used.

3. For military personnel, the excused from duty day will be treated like a training holiday.

4. Contract employees must report to their home office for instructions.”

“FYI...when former President Carter dies...I have to be out of town and will be unable to attend the funeral.”