Federal Employees to Get a Full Day Off on Christmas Eve
The National Christmas Tree is lit on the Ellipse near the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020 in Washington. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
President Trump issues an executive order that breaks with recent precedent by granting vacation for all of Dec. 24, rather than a half-day.
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday giving federal employees an extra day off on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve falls on a Thursday this year and it was previously expected that the federal workforce would get a half-day off. President Obama granted the half day in 2015 and 2009, when Christmas fell on a Friday, as did President Clinton in 1998.
Trump has been relatively generous with granting federal employees vacation around Christmas. Last year the president surprised federal employees by giving them Dec. 24 off despite the fact that Christmas fell on a Wednesday. Trump also gave Christmas Eve off in 2018, to allow the federal workforce a four-day weekend. Christmas Eve is not an official federal holiday.
“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, 2020, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need,” the order notes.
This is Trump’s last Christmas as president, with President-elect Biden preparing to take over on January 20, despite the fact that Trump is still contesting the results of the election.
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