Matt Rosendale (Mont.), said ahead of the vote that making Juneteenth a federal holiday was "an effort by the left to create a day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics as part of its larger efforts to make Critical Race Theory the reigning ideology of our country," referring to discussions of systemic racism in schools.
The conversation on how to address prevailing racism and disparities in the country is littered with numerous partisan battle lines, but establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday has received relatively broad bipartisan support.John CornynJohn CornynSenate passes bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday Harris calls for pathway to citizenship for Dreamers on DACA anniversary Senate confirms Garland's successor to appeals court MORE (R-Texas) being one of the main proponents.
While just now being recognized as a holiday on a federal level, Juneteenth is celebrated by many cities across the country as well as almost every state.