President Trump on Thursday issued an executive order declaring Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas federal holidays this year. “All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, the day before and the day following Christmas Day, respectively,” the order read. “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, 2025, or December 26, 2025, or both, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need,” it continued. BREAKING: President Trump signs executive order making Christmas Eve and December 26th OFFICIAL federal holidays: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: All executive departments and… pic.twitter.com/UavlTxcFvT — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 18, 2025 More from the New York Post: Trump had previously given federal workers the day off on Christmas Eve, but his action Thursday goes a step further and adds Dec. 26 to the list. The move is historically unusual for a president. The overture comes after federal workers had a rough couple of weeks during the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown that ended last month. Trump gave federal workers Christmas Eve off in 2019 and 2020. President Trump creates two new federal holidays around Christmas https://t.co/MjmuHgXRSZ pic.twitter.com/ig8HV0n5zv — New York Post (@nypost) December 18, 2025 The Hill shared further: Those years, Dec. 24 fell on a Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Former President Obama did the same for Dec. 26 in 2014, as the day after Christmas fell on a Friday. In May, Trump declared national holidays on Nov. 11 and May 8 to commemorate victories in World War I and World War II, respectively. Nov. 11 was already celebrated as Veterans Day, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified in May that the administration will not rename the holiday. Instead, the president sent out an additional proclamation commemorating the Allies’ victory in World War I. With the two additional holidays next week, that marks 13 federal holidays this year: New Year’s Day; Jan. 20 — for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Trump’s inauguration — President’s Day; Memorial Day; Juneteenth; Independence Day; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving Day; Christmas Eve; Christmas Day and Dec. 26. In order to establish a permanent federal holiday, Congress must pass such legislation and the president must sign it into law. The most recent federal holiday added to the calendar was Juneteenth in 2021, under former President Biden. Read the full order HERE.