Christmas Eve this year will be a paid day off for federal workers thanks to President Donald Trump.
The president signed the executive order on Friday.
"All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Thursday, December 24, 2020, the day before Christmas Day,'' the order said.
Former Presidents Barack Obama (twice) and Bill Clinton (once) gave federal workers half days off on Christmas Eve when it fell on a Thursday, as it does this year. Christmas Day is a federal holiday.
President Trump has encouraged people to celebrate the Christmas holiday enthusiastically, as reported by the New York Post. He has accused some Democrats of waging a "war on Christmas," and in Georgia on Saturday warned that political opponents still want to erase the holiday.
"Let me begin by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Remember the word?" Trump asked the crowd. "Remember? We started five years ago, and I said, 'You’re gonna be saying "Christmas" again.' We say it proudly again. Although they’ll be trying to take that word again out of the vocabulary."
The executive order does allow the heads of executive departments and agencies to require certain employees to work Christmas Eve for reasons of national security, defense or other public need.
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