Is Christmas Eve a Federal Holiday in 2026? Mail, Banks, Markets

No. Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday. The only federal holiday in the last week of December is Christmas Day, which the Office of Personnel Management lists for Friday, December 25, 2026. On Thursday, December 24, 2026, mail is delivered, post offices and banks are open (often with shorter hours), and the stock market trades until 1 p.m. Eastern. The day after Christmas, Saturday, December 26, is not a federal holiday either.

There is one wrinkle. Presidents can close federal offices on Christmas Eve by executive order, and they have done it often enough – for the full day in 2001, 2007, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025, and for half a day in 1998, 2002, 2009 and 2015 – that many people now assume the day is a holiday. It is not automatic. As of mid-October 2026 we found no such order for this year on the Federal Register's list, and every one of those orders was signed in December, between the 5th and the 21st. If one is issued for 2026, we will update this page. Either way, such an order covers federal employees, not the Postal Service's delivery schedule, banks, markets or private employers.

Christmas week 2026 at a glance

Why Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday

Federal holidays are created by Congress. The list sits in a statute, 5 U.S.C. 6103, and OPM's holiday page reproduces it each year. For 2026 it contains 11 days: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. December 24 and December 26 are not on it.

Federal holidays are narrower than the name suggests. The Congressional Research Service puts it this way: although they are often called national holidays, they are "only legally applicable to federal employees and the District of Columbia," because each state decides its own legal holidays. Neither Congress nor the president has claimed the power to declare a holiday binding on the 50 states. That is why your employer can stay open on any of them, why states publish their own holiday calendars, and why banks and markets follow the Federal Reserve's and the exchanges' schedules instead. In practice most of the country treats Christmas Day as a day off and Christmas Eve as a short working day.

When presidents close the government on Christmas Eve

A president can excuse executive-branch employees from work on a given day by executive order. It does not create a permanent holiday; it applies to that one date.

The table lists the Christmas-week closing orders we found in the Federal Register's online records from 1997 onward, with the signing dates the Register gives. A pattern is visible: when Christmas falls on a Tuesday, presidents have usually given Monday, December 24; when it falls on a Thursday, they have usually given Friday, December 26; and when it falls on a Friday, as it does in 2026, the precedents are half-day closings on Thursday in 1998, 2009 and 2015 and a full day in 2020. The 2025 order, Executive Order 14371, was the first on the list to grant both the day before and the day after Christmas. Its text says executive departments and agencies "shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025," and it allows agency heads to keep offices open for reasons of national security, defense or other public need. OPM's accompanying memo treated both days as holidays for pay and leave purposes.

Even then, the effect on the public was limited. News reports at the time noted that the Postal Service was not affected and delivered mail on both days, and Federal News Network reported that Social Security kept field offices and phone lines staffed on December 24 and 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. Banks and stock exchanges kept their normal Christmas Eve plans.

Will Christmas Eve be a federal holiday in 2026? Nobody can say yet. There is no order on the Federal Register's 2026 list as of mid-October, and past orders were signed anywhere from late November to December 21. In 2026, December 26 falls on a Saturday, so the question of an extra day after Christmas largely answers itself.

Is the post office open on Christmas Eve? Does mail run?

Yes to both. The Postal Service's 2026 holiday list includes Friday, December 25 and no other day that week. On Christmas Eve, carriers deliver mail and packages on a normal schedule and post office counters open. The catch is hours: USPS said last year that some post offices might extend hours in the days before the holiday while others would have limited hours on Christmas Eve. Some districts set a uniform early closing – all post offices in the Los Angeles area closed at noon on December 24, 2025 – while others kept regular hours. USPS has not issued its Christmas Eve 2026 statement yet. Look up your branch on the USPS locator and go in the morning.

On Christmas Day post offices are closed and there is no regular mail. Last year USPS said carriers would deliver Priority Mail Express packages on Christmas Day in select locations for an additional fee. Normal delivery resumes on Saturday, December 26, which is an ordinary delivery day. Self-service kiosks in post office lobbies and package lockers are available wherever the lobby is unlocked.

2026 holiday shipping deadlines

If the real question is whether a package will arrive in time, the Postal Service and FedEx have published their 2026 dates and UPS has posted a provisional schedule. These are recommended send-by dates for delivery before Christmas, not guarantees.

The USPS dates come from the Postal Service's September 22, 2026 announcement and are for delivery before December 25. The FedEx dates come from FedEx's own "2026 Shipping deadlines for holiday packages" sheet, linked from its holiday page, and are the last days to ship for a package scheduled to arrive by December 24; FedEx notes that the dates are subject to change. The UPS dates come from the year-end holiday schedule PDF linked from UPS's holiday page. That file covers 2026, but its document title still carried the words "update pending" when we opened it on October 13, so treat the UPS dates as provisional and recheck ups.com in November. Note one trap in the UPS schedule as posted: a Next Day Air package picked up on Thursday, December 24 is delivered on Monday, December 28, not on Christmas or the Saturday after.

Do UPS, FedEx and Amazon deliver on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

UPS. According to its 2026 holiday schedule, UPS delivers for all services on December 24. Pickups that day are available only for air and international air packages, and only if arranged by December 18; there is no ground pickup. UPS Store locations are open. On December 25 there is no UPS pickup or delivery, apart from its Express Critical emergency service, and UPS Store locations may be closed. On Saturday, December 26, the year-end schedule shows service for air and international air shipments only.

FedEx. FedEx's 2026 holiday schedule lists December 24 as a day of modified service, with early on-call and drop-box pickups in some areas and modified Ground pickups. FedEx Office locations keep modified hours that day and some close early. On December 25 FedEx and FedEx Office are listed as closed; FedEx Custom Critical is listed as open on all three days. Both are listed as open again on Saturday, December 26.

Amazon. Amazon delivers on Christmas Eve. It said last year that millions of items were available for same-day delivery through Christmas Eve in more than 9,000 U.S. cities and towns, and urged customers to order early in the day because delivery windows fill up. Amazon has not published a policy on Christmas Day deliveries that we could find, so we make no claim either way; the delivery date shown at checkout is the only thing to go by.

Are banks open on Christmas Eve?

Yes. The Federal Reserve's 2026 holiday schedule lists Christmas Day, December 25, and not Christmas Eve, so banks operate and payments settle on Thursday. What changes is branch hours. Banks set these themselves, and many close in the early afternoon:

• Bank of America said on its website last year, as reported by Newsweek on December 24, 2025, that its financial centers would close at 2 p.m. local time on Christmas Eve and stay closed on Christmas Day. It has not posted 2026 hours.
• Chase publishes a list of the holidays on which its branches close, and it includes Christmas Day but no Christmas Eve hours. News reports last year gave different early-closing times, so we do not print one; check your branch in the Chase locator.
• Wells Fargo says its branches are closed on Christmas Day and that some locations may have reduced hours around the holidays, giving Christmas Eve as its example.
• TD Bank lists Friday, December 25, 2026 as a closure and nothing for Christmas Eve.

Citi, Capital One and PNC have not published Christmas Eve branch hours that we could find; use each bank's branch locator. Whatever your bank, do branch business before noon on Thursday.

The calendar matters more than usual this year. The Fed's automated clearing house stops processing late on December 24 and resumes on the evening of Sunday, December 27, so a transfer or bill payment started on Thursday afternoon may not land until Monday, December 28. The Federal Reserve's own FedACH holiday schedule shows processing ending at 11:30 p.m. Eastern on December 24, 2026 and resuming at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, December 27. For paychecks, Nacha, the body that writes the ACH rules, describes the common industry practice this way: paydays that would otherwise fall on a weekend or holiday are paid on the prior business day, while bill payments are collected on the next business day. That is a practice, not a legal guarantee, so if your payday is Friday, December 25, ask your payroll office when the deposit will post. ATMs, cards, mobile check deposit and person-to-person payment apps keep working throughout.

Is the stock market open on Christmas Eve?

For half a day. The New York Stock Exchange says each of its markets will close early at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Thursday, December 24, 2026, and Nasdaq's calendar shows the same 1 p.m. early close. Both are closed on Friday, December 25. The bond market follows the recommendations of the industry group SIFMA: an early close at 2 p.m. Eastern on December 24 and a full close on December 25. Regular trading resumes on Monday, December 28.

Is the day after Christmas a federal holiday?

No. December 26 is not one of the holidays in the federal statute and never has been. It has, however, been a day off for federal workers more than once: presidents closed executive departments and agencies on Friday, December 26 in 1997, 2003, 2008 and 2014, each a year when Christmas fell on a Thursday, and again in 2025. Each order applied to that single date. In 2026 the question does not arise, because December 26 is a Saturday. The weekend rules work the other way round: when a holiday itself falls on a Saturday, 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) makes the preceding Friday the holiday for most federal employees, and when it falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is treated as the holiday under Executive Order 11582. Several states do add days around Christmas for their own employees – North Carolina's 2026 calendar, for example, gives state workers December 24, 25 and 28.

State offices, DMVs and courts on Christmas Eve

Whether you can renew a license on December 24 depends on your state. A number of states make Christmas Eve a holiday for state employees, which closes driver's license offices and most state agencies. For 2026 these include:

• Texas – state agencies closed December 24 and 25.
• North Carolina – state holidays on December 24, 25 and 28.
• Tennessee – Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25.
• Michigan – December 24 and 25.
• Virginia – the state's 2026 pay and holiday calendar gives employees eight hours of additional holiday time on December 24.
• Kentucky – the Personnel Cabinet lists Christmas as Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25.
• Oklahoma – the state holiday list shows December 24 and 25 for Christmas.
• Georgia – the state observes Washington's Birthday on Thursday, December 24, followed by Christmas Day.
• South Carolina – the State Treasurer's 2026 holiday memo lists Christmas Eve, December 24, as a state holiday that banks do not observe.
• Arkansas – a state agency notice says the Capitol offices and all state buildings will be closed on December 24 and 25.
• Wisconsin – state law (section 230.35) closes state offices on December 24, 25 and 31.

These entries come from each state's own published calendar, statute or notice, checked in October 2026; governors can still add or change days, so confirm with the agency you need. County and city offices set their own schedules and frequently close at noon. Federal courts are closed on Christmas Day, and individual courts may add Christmas Eve – the federal district court in Maine, for one, includes December 24 in its 2026 holiday order.

Social Security offices are closed on December 25 and, absent an executive order, open on December 24. Christmas does not move any Social Security payment in 2026. The agency's published payment schedule pays benefits on the second, third and fourth Wednesdays of the month according to birth date, and the last of those in December 2026 is Wednesday, December 23; people who have received benefits since before May 1997 are paid on the 3rd, and Supplemental Security Income is paid on the 1st.

Do you get Christmas Eve off, or holiday pay?

For private-sector workers that is up to the employer. The Department of Labor notes that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, such as holidays, and it does not require extra pay for working on one; holiday pay and time off are matters of company policy, contract or union agreement. Many offices close early on Christmas Eve as a courtesy. Federal employees are entitled to the day only if an executive order grants it. State and local government workers follow their own calendars, as the list above shows.

A short checklist for the week

1. Mail cards and Ground Advantage packages by Thursday, December 17.
2. Ship anything by UPS or FedEx by Tuesday, December 22 unless you are paying for overnight service.
3. Move money, pay bills and deposit checks by Wednesday, December 23.
4. Do in-person banking and post office errands on the morning of December 24.
5. Expect nothing to be delivered or processed on Friday, December 25.
6. Count Monday, December 28 as the next full business day.

For stores and restaurants on the same days, see Christmas Eve hours and what is open on Christmas Day. A similar guide for another federal holiday is our page on whether the post office is open on Veterans Day.