Executive Order 11696—Excusing Federal Employees in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area From Duty for One-Half Day on Friday, January 19, 1973

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

SECTION 1. Employees of Federal executive departments, independent establishments, and other agencies, including their field offices, shall be excused from duty for one-half day on Friday, January 19, 1973, the day preceding Presidential Inauguration Day, January 20, 1973. This order applies only to those employees whose official duty stations are located within the District of Columbia, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County in Maryland, and Alexandria City, Fairfax City, Falls Church City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County in Virginia. This order shall not apply to those employees regularly scheduled to work on January 20, 1973, and who are entitled to a holiday on that date under 5 U.S.C. 6103 (c).

SEC. 2. Employees of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, or other Federal departments, independent establishments, and agencies, who in the judgment of their agency heads should remain at their posts of duty for national security or other public reasons need not be excused.

SEC. 3. This one-half day shall be a holiday for the purposes of Executive Order 11582, dated February 11, 1971, 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103 (b), and any other statute so far as it relates to the pay and leave of employees of the United States.

RICHARD NIXON

The White House,

January 17, 1973.