Documents › Executive orders › 14371
Executive Order 14371
Providing for the Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on December 24, 2025, and December 26, 2025
Signed December 18, 2025, printed at 90 FR 60545. 4 sections of substance, 447 words.
This order closes federal offices. The days are December 24 and 26, 2025. Some staff must still report for duty.
Sec. 1.
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.
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.
This shuts the government for two days. Every department is covered. So is every agency. Staff need not come to work. The first day is Wednesday, December 24, 2025. The second is Friday, December 26, 2025. One falls before Christmas Day. One falls after it.
Sec. 2.
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.
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.
This allows exceptions. An agency head may keep some offices open. Part of an office may stay open. Some staff may be told to report. Either day may be covered. Both may be. Security is one reason. Defense is another. Other public need counts too.
Sec. 3.
December 24, 2025, and December 26, 2025, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 of February 11, 1971, and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States.
December 24, 2025, and December 26, 2025, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 of February 11, 1971, and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States.
This covers pay and leave. The two days off count under an older order. They also count under two pay and holiday laws. Similar laws apply as well. That means staff are treated as they would be on a holiday. Pay rules follow. So do leave rules.
Sec. 4.
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement this order.
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement this order.
This says who carries it out. The staffing office must take the needed steps.
Sec. 5. General Provisions
Every order carries this. It is not what the order does.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. [[Page 60546]] (d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Office of Personnel Management. <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT> (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE HOUSE,
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. [[Page 60546]] (d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Office of Personnel Management. <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT> (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE HOUSE,
This is the closing clause that nearly every order carries. It says the order does not change what the law already allows. It also says no one can sue to enforce it.
How this order is quoted
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