Feds will probably have to work on Christmas Eve, but a holiday miracle would not be unprecedented

While federal employees annually wonder whether the president will give them a full or half day off for Christmas Eve, which is not a federal holiday, there’s a possibility that they could get a bonus break on a different day this year. 

Christmas Eve this year is on a Wednesday, which suggests that feds will have to work that day. Presidents tend to give the government workforce an extra holiday on Dec. 24 if Christmas is on a Tuesday, as doing so creates a four-day weekend. 

Still, Trump unexpectedly gave feds Dec. 24 off in 2019, when Christmas was on a Wednesday. And in 2020, when Christmas Eve fell on a Thursday, he gave them the full day off, even though other recent presidents have only granted half days when Christmas fell on the last day of the work week. 

Former President Joe Biden last year also gave government workers Christmas Eve off, even though it was a Tuesday. 

Presidents historically announce whether feds will get Christmas Eve fully or partially off in mid-December. 

It’s also possible, however, that Christmas Eve won’t be the extra day that civil servants get off for the holidays. Christmas falls on a Thursday this year for the first time since 2014. That year, former President Barack Obama declared Dec. 26 a holiday for feds.