Providing for the Closure of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on December 24, 2025, and December 26, 2025
This Presidential Action officially directs all executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government to close and excuse employees from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, recognizing the days immediately before and after Christmas Day, 2025.
The order empowers agency heads to mandate that certain employees report for duty on those days if required for national security, defense, or other critical public needs, and stipulates that these closure days fall under existing statutes governing employee pay and leave.
Arguments For
Ensuring federal employees receive time off around the Christmas holiday, which can boost morale and work-life balance.
Granting necessary administrative closure days for non-essential government functions without needing individual agency appropriations review for each holiday closure.
Maintaining operational continuity by allowing agency heads the discretion to designate essential personnel needed for national security, defense, or critical public needs.
Arguments Against
Potential disruption to public services and operations that rely on ongoing federal agency interactions or scheduled services on the specified dates.
Concerns regarding productivity loss across the federal workforce for two working days surrounding a federal observance.
The order relies on existing statutes (like 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b)) for pay and leave adjustments, which might offer less clarity or perceived flexibility than specific legislation addressing those non-standard days.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, the day before and the day following Christmas Day, respectively.
The President invokes constitutional and legal authority to issue this mandatory directive.
Section 1 mandates that all federal executive departments, such as the Department of State or Commerce, and their agencies must close their offices and excuse employees from work on December 24, 2025, and December 26, 2025.
These dates are specified as being the day before and the day after Christmas Day, 2025.
Sec. 2. The heads of executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty on December 24, 2025, or December 26, 2025, or both, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.
This section grants flexibility to agency administrators regarding the mandatory closure.
Department and agency heads retain the power to decide if specific offices, installations, or parts of their organization must remain operational.
If national security, defense requirements, or other urgent public needs demand it, designated employees must report to work on either or both of the specified closing days.
Sec. 3. December 24, 2025, and December 26, 2025, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 of February 11, 1971, and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States.
This clarifies how employee compensation and time off will be managed during the closure periods.
It explicitly links these two specific dates to existing laws (like 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b)) and a previous Executive Order (11582) that govern how federal employees receive pay and use leave for holidays or similar non-work days.
Sec. 4. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement this order.
This assigns oversight responsibility for executing the order.
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is tasked with issuing necessary rules, guidance, or taking required administrative steps to ensure this order is correctly put into effect across the government.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Office of Personnel Management.
Section 5 outlines standard legal limitations and administrative housekeeping for the Presidential Action.
Subsection (a) ensures the order does not override existing statutory authority held by agency heads or interfere with the budgetary and administrative roles of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Subsection (b) confirms implementation must comply with current law and available funding.
Subsection (c) is a standard disclaimer stating the order does not create new enforceable legal rights for private parties against the government.
Finally, subsection (d) assigns OPM the responsibility for covering the financial cost associated with formally publishing the order.