On December 11, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order that reads:
All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Thursday, December 24, 2020, the day before Christmas Day.
Several days ago, FedSmith published an article speculating that “the precedent has not been good for federal workers who would like an entire day off without having to dip into their leave account.”
The article also noted:
President Trump has been generous with giving federal employees extra time off at Christmas.
In 2019, he closed most government agencies and executive departments for eight hours on Christmas Eve, a Monday. Again in 2019, he granted eight hours of additional time off for most federal employees on Christmas Eve when that day fell on a Tuesday.
So, in the last few weeks of his presidency, he has given a gift of an extra day off to the federal workforce.
As usual with these Orders giving federal employees time off from work around Christmas, some federal workers will not be able to get the day off. This Order states:
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.
So, Merry Christmas from President Trump to federal employees.
The full text of the Executive Order follows below.
