Sophia Waterfield

By Sophia Waterfield

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Americans working for government offices have an extra thing to celebrate this holiday season, as Christmas Eve has been declared a federal holiday.

President Donald Trump gave an executive order on December 17 to close all "executive departments and agencies of the federal government" on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, according to the White House. This means that employees working for the government should have an extra day off before Christmas.

The decision whether employees "report for duty" on Christmas Eve is at the discretion of the heads of the executive departments and agencies, according to the executive order. Some organizations, or part of them, might remain open due to reasons of "national security, defense or other public need" the order says.

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Which government offices will be closed on Christmas Eve?

According to the government website, the following offices, departments and agencies fall under the executive departments of the Federal Government.

Federal Offices Closed Christmas Eve 2019

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It is unclear whether the executive order extends to independent and quasi-official agencies and their departments and committees. Newsweek has reached out to the White House for clarification.

These include agencies such as the U.S. Postal Service, National Park Foundation and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), around 2.1 million civilian workers are employed by the federal government. This number excludes workers from agencies such as the U.S. postal service.

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