Written by: Anna Litteer
On December 18, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order to close most federal offices on December 24 and December 26, expanding the federal holiday observance this season. The executive order called for the closure of all executive departments and agencies, unless the heads of such offices determined their duties must be performed and therefore remained open with limited staff. This has effectively expanded the federal holiday of Christmas, which has been recognized since 1870, as a legal and administrative move, highlighting the limits and reach of executive authority over federal labor policy.
Federal Holidays and Statutory Authority
A federal holiday, or national holiday, is considered a patriotic celebration that applies only to federal employees and the District of Columbia. Each of the fifty states individually determine their legal holidays, where Congress and the President do not have the authority to bind the states to any nationally recognized holiday. States are impacted by federal holidays when it comes to their federal offices, including mail delivery and business with federal agencies.
Only twelve federal holidays have been introduced into law. Federal holidays have been created for a multitude of reasons over the last 150 years: Congress following the lead of the states recognizing holidays, Congress initiating the process, and the executive taking charge. No matter how the holiday was created, however, each recognition was designed to honor American history or emphasize an area of American heritage. Legal holidays are different from administrative leave, which is an authorized absence from duty without loss of pay. Such leave only applies to employees within the executive branch holding a part-time or full-time role.
Administrative Leave and Executive Power
The President has the constitutional authority to grant administrative leave, rooted in the executive’s role as employer of the federal workforce and carried out by agency guidelines rather than legislation. Presidents have long exercised discretion to provide such administrative leave, particularly around holidays or national events. As such, the recent decision to grant administrative leave on December 24 and December 26 does not convert those days into statutory holidays. Instead, the President is leveraging his constitutional powers through personnel management by the executive branch. This leave is temporary, revocable, and non-binding on future administrations. By relying on administrative leave in his executive order, the President has avoided the constitutional hurdles of lawmaking while simultaneously providing an extended holiday. But, unlike a recognized federal holiday, administrative leave this year carries no guarantee of repetition or judicial recognition.
Consequences and Spillover Effects
This leave may create a spillover effect to other areas of government. Although the executive order does not apply to the judicial branch, litigants and attorneys navigating late-December deadlines must carefully distinguish between cultural shutdowns and legally operative holidays. Similarly, regulatory agencies continue to have fixed statutory deadlines that will not come to a hault because agency staff are absent. This encompasses rulemaking periods, compliance obligations, and enforcement timelines. While employees will receive time-off they would predictably take otherwise, this temporary step back in operations contrasts with regulated parties that remain legally bound to act. This may lead to procedural missteps that must be addressed upon return of operations.
Beyond governmental operations, there may be a subtle influence on the private sector. Private employers may feel pressure to follow the government’s initiative, creating downstream effects in wage-and-hour compliance. Modern work realities, however, demonstrate the period between Christmas and New Year’s is a low-productivity window. Although federal law treats this period as fully operational, following the executive’s initiative may not completely derail current production levels or forecasting.
Policy Considerations and Future Implications
The question becomes whether this will become a recurring practice in government, where Congress may formalize expanding holiday observances. Such may risk one of the country’s founding principles–a separation of church and state. There may also be unequal treatment across administrations, favoring certain religions while excluding others, and there are no guarantees that previous observances will be honored moving forward. While there are such risks, there may be the gained benefit of worker morale and the modernization of federal leave practices. Either way, the government must decide whether they are willing to provide legal clarity or permit this flexibility the President has leveraged.
Conclusion
Ultimately, while only two days out of the calendar year, this expansion of holiday observances may underscore the centrality of calendars as legal instruments. What appears to be a much-needed break for federal employees may carry implications for procedure, jurisdiction, and authority. As future administrations, or even the current one, confront similar pressures–whether around holidays, national emergencies, or workforce morale–the balance between legislative prerogative and administrative discretion will remain salient. While this executive order has not transformed Christmas Eve or December 26 into a federal holiday in a legal sense, the power demonstrated by the executive highlights how it can shape the lived experience of law without formally changing it.
Sources:
Exec. Order No. 14371, 90 Fed. Reg. 60545 (Dec. 23, 2025).
Fact Sheet: Administrative Leave, Off. of Pers. Mgmt., https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/administrative-leave#content (last visited Dec. 20, 2025).
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practices, Congressional Research Service (July 1, 2021), https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R41990.
Finya Swai, Trump gives federal workers Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 off, PoliticoPro (Dec. 18, 2025, at 16:29 ET), https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2025/12/18/trump-gives-federal-workers-christmas-eve-and-dec-26-off-00698382.
Minda Zetlin, 7 Reasons the Smartest Companies Shut Down for Christmas Week, Inc. (Dec. 12, 2016), https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/countdown-2017-why-you-should-give-employees-holiday-week-off.html.