The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS) by Chris Palmer
By announcing in an executive order that this year’s Christmas Eve will be a federal holiday, President Joe Biden is offering federal employees a farewell present this holiday season.
Biden, who is nearing the end of his time in the White House, stated in the order issued Thursday that all federal employees will have the additional day off, with the exception of those working in defense, national security, or other public needs. He only stated that the leaders of the appropriate departments or agencies will make those decisions; he did not go into further detail.
A U.S. Postal Services representative stated on Saturday that deliveries would continue to be made and that all Post Offices would continue to operate normally.
It was unclear how or whether the directive would impact government facilities like the Liberty Bell or Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, where a lot of offices and businesses are closed on Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, the sites were supposed to be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but efforts to get in touch with a spokeswoman on Saturday were unsuccessful.
Presidents have the power to determine whether to give federal employees more time off for Christmas Eve, even though Christmas Day has long been acknowledged as a federal holiday. For the first time in his four years in office, Biden has done so this year.
Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton occasionally chose to close federal offices for an additional day around Christmas if the holiday fell close to a weekend, and former President Donald Trump granted federal employees the day off from 2018 through 2020.
Philadelphia Inquirer, 2024. See www.inquirer.com. Tribune Content Agency, LLC is the distributor.
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