The following table lists the official 2025 federal holidays from the Office of Personnel management.
*This holiday is designated as “Inauguration Day” in section 6103(c) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Federal employees in the Washington, DC, area are entitled to a holiday on the day a President is inaugurated on January 20th for each fourth year after 1965.
**This holiday is designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.
Presidential Inauguration Day
Federal employees in the Washington, DC, area are entitled to a holiday on the day a President is inaugurated on January 20th (except as explained below) for each fourth year after 1965 (see 5 U.S.C. 6103(c)) (i.e., following a Presidential election)—if they would be otherwise scheduled to work on Inauguration Day within the “Inauguration Day Area.” The “Inauguration Day Area” is defined as:
- the District of Columbia;
- Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties in Maryland;
- Arlington and Fairfax Counties in Virginia; and
- the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax in Virginia.
The Inauguration Day holiday is provided for the purposes of reducing traffic and facilitating local attendance at the inauguration ceremony. Thus, the holiday is limited to employees “employed in” (i.e., scheduled to work in) the Inauguration Day Area. Accordingly, there are circumstances where employees are not entitled to the Inauguration Day holiday:
- Employees in the Inauguration Day Area who are not otherwise scheduled to work on Inauguration Day will not receive the holiday or an “in lieu of” holiday. There is no “in lieu of” holiday when Inauguration Day falls on a nonwork day.
- Employees who are scheduled to telework at locations outside the Inauguration Day Area on Inauguration Day will not receive the holiday, even if their official worksites are in the Inauguration Day area. Such employees are expected to telework or request leave for the day. (Note: This generally applicable policy has been modified for the January 20, 2021, Inauguration Day, since COVID-19 is preventing many employees from working in the Inauguration Day area who would have otherwise worked in that area. See guidance provided in the OPM memorandum issued in connection with the January 20, 2021, Inauguration Day holiday.)
- Employees who are in travel status away from the Inauguration Day Area on Inauguration Day will not receive the holiday, even if their official worksites are in the Inauguration Day area. Such employees are expected to work at their temporary duty site outside of the Inauguration Day area.
Note: The holiday applies to employees who, while in official travel status, would otherwise be scheduled to work in the Inauguration Day Area on Inauguration Day. This applies even if the employee’s official worksite is not within the Inauguration Day area.
If January 20th falls on a Sunday, the next succeeding day (i.e., Monday, January 21st) is designated as the public observance of the inauguration of the President and thus becomes the legal holiday of Inauguration Day.
If an Inauguration Day on January 21st is already designated as a legal holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103 (Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. – 3rd Monday in January), no additional holiday is provided. In this case, employees will receive a holiday under the normal rules that apply to the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.
If January 20th falls on a Saturday, Inauguration Day is observed on the Saturday. There is no “in lieu of” Inauguration Day holiday. Only employees scheduled to work in the Inauguration Day area on Saturday, January 20th, may be excused from duty and provided with paid holiday time off. Inauguration Day is not observed on another day.