On Friday, Donald Trump signed an order that gives most federal workers a paid day off on Christmas Eve.
As the workers were expecting a half-day off, the news came to them as a pleasant surprise. The order bound all the federal agencies and departments to remain close a day before Christmas on Thursday, December 24, 2020, and all the employees will be granted a paid holiday.
The former presidents gave half days off when Christmas fell on Friday during their presidential period. Barack Obama announced a half-day in 2015 and 2019, and so did Clinton in 1998.
Trump is the most prominent advocate of celebrating Christmas with pride and contentment.
As he took the presidency, he called the former presidents politically correct democrats who were “waging war on Christmas.” During a speech at a rally in Georgia on Saturday, he said some politicians still want to erase the Christmas holiday.
He wished all his supporters a Merry Christmas and expressed how proud he is to celebrate this holiday. He further shared his fear that political opponents may try to eliminate the word “Christmas” from the vocabulary again.
The order for an extra day off before Christmas was announced on Friday via executive order. It is the third year in a row when Trump has made Christmas Eve a federal holiday.
Most of the employees will be enjoying the day off on Thursday, besides a few exceptions. The head of the organizations and agencies may decide to open specific departments meant for national security or public needs. Employees of all such departments will have to perform their duties on December 24, and there would be no holiday for them.
Trump closed federal agencies in 2019 when Christmas Eve fell on Tuesday, and he practiced a similar thing in 2018 when Christmas Eve fell on Monday. 25 December is a federal holiday, but 24 December is not, so it is not sure the future presidents will continue this trend.