President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday afternoon that gives most federal employees off on Dec. 24 and Dec. 26.
Christmas Day is a standard federal holiday, so federal employees will be getting a five-day weekend.
However, the executive order clarified that some agencies and offices may need to remain open, and that “certain employees must report for duty … for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.”
It also tasks the director of the Office of Personnel Management to take any necessary actions to implement the order.
Extra time off for federal employees around the holidays is far from unprecedented, but certainly not guaranteed.
In recent years presidents Biden, Trump, Obama, and George W. Bush decreed days off for federal employees on either the day preceding or following Christmas Day.