The Daily Fuckup

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on December 18, 2025, directing executive departments and agencies to close on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025. The White House said the two dates would fall under existing pay and leave rules for federal holidays, and the Office of Personnel Management issued guidance the same day telling agencies how to carry out the order.

The result was simple enough. Most federal employees were excused from duty on both days, and workers who had already planned to use leave on those dates were not charged for it. Agencies still retained discretion to keep certain offices open, or require some employees to report, if national security, defense, or other public need made that necessary.

That is the part of the story that is easy to verify. The larger question is how the move was presented. OPM’s memo said the order was issued “to celebrate Christmas,” which turned an operational decision into a presidential gesture in the first place. That may be good politics for a White House that likes to package ordinary government actions as personal generosity. It is also exactly the sort of thing that makes a routine calendar adjustment look like an act of theater.

There is nothing unusual about a president using executive authority to close the government on a holiday schedule. The sharper point is that this White House is comfortable putting Trump at the center of even basic management calls, then treating the announcement itself like part of the event. The workers got the time off. The administration got a chance to frame it as a gift from the boss.

So the practical outcome was mundane, and the paperwork was clean. But the style was unmistakable. A normal holiday closure became another reminder that this president prefers government to arrive with a flourish, as if administration is best understood as a performance and not just a job.