Which federal holidays in 2025 impact the Congressional calendar for budget and appropriations work?
Executive summary
Federal holidays that remove days from the congressional work calendar in 2025 are the standard 11 federal holidays observed nationwide, plus the special Washington-area Inauguration Day observed Jan. 20, 2025 — meaning Congress and Hill operations will be affected by New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (coinciding with Inauguration Day in D.C.), Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas (sources list the 11 federal holidays and note the localized Inauguration Day leave) [1] [2] [3]. Private compilations of the 119th Congress calendar and commercial calendars incorporate those federal holidays when marking House and Senate session days [4] [5].
1. Federal holidays are the baseline that shapes the congressional calendar
Congressional leaders build House and Senate session schedules around the federally established holidays in 5 U.S.C. 6103; agencies such as OPM publish the official federal holiday list and observance rules (e.g., weekend-to-weekday in-lieu rules) that drive when offices are closed and when lawmakers typically avoid scheduling votes or markups [1]. Most public calendars used by Hill staff and lobbyists therefore start from that OPM-backed list [1].
2. Which specific 2025 dates matter for appropriation and budget work
The commonly cited 11 federal holidays in 2025 — New Year’s Day; Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Washington’s Birthday (Presidents Day); Memorial Day; Juneteenth; Independence Day; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving; and Christmas — are the recurring dates that remove normal floor and committee days from the schedule and compress the available time for appropriations and budget negotiations [6] [7]. Commercial and industry congressional calendars mirror those dates when showing House and Senate in-session days [5] [4].
3. The wrinkle for 2025: Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C.
Inauguration Day (Jan. 20, 2025) is a federal holiday for federal employees in the Washington, D.C., area every fourth year; in 2025 it coincided with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, creating a localized, extra-day observance for D.C.-area federal workers and Capitol staff — an additional practical closure that can complicate the immediate post-election/start-of-Congress scheduling and shortens that week for budget-related work [2] [3] [1]. National calendars and OPM note that the D.C. observance applies to employees “in the Washington, DC, area” under current statute and practice [7] [1].
4. How calendars used by staff and stakeholders show the impact
Industry-produced congressional calendars for the 119th Congress explicitly flag federal holidays as non-session or “no business” dates; organizations such as NAB, BBK and CQ/Roll Call produce combined House–Senate calendars that incorporate these holidays so appropriations counsel, advocates and agencies can plan hearings, markups and budget votes around them [4] [5] [8]. Those calendars are practical tools they use to identify compressed windows in which leaders must schedule continuing resolutions or appropriations deadlines [5] [4].
5. What this means for budget timing and risk
Holiday closures create predictable lost days for negotiations and hearings; when multiple holidays cluster around deadlines (for example, a late-November Thanksgiving week or summer recess around Independence Day), leaders must either compress work weeks, schedule emergency Saturday sessions, or punt with continuing resolutions. Sources show congressional calendars and private trackers mark these closures to signal those compressed windows for stakeholders [5] [4].
6. Limits of the available reporting and alternative perspectives
Available sources list the federal holidays and note the D.C.-area Inauguration Day exception and that commercial calendars reflect those dates [1] [2] [5]. Available sources do not mention which specific appropriations deadlines or individual committee schedules in 2025 were directly delayed by each holiday; nor do they provide granular, day-by-day evidence tying a particular holiday to a missed or postponed appropriations vote (not found in current reporting).
7. What to watch going forward
Watch the majority leaders’ published House and Senate calendars and the industry 119th Congress calendars (NAB, BBK, Roll Call) for session-day changes around each federal holiday; those are the authoritative, operational guides staff use when planning markups and Fiscal Year schedule maneuvers [4] [5] [8]. For statutory framing of holiday observance rules that affect when federal employees — and thus many Hill operations — are off, refer to OPM’s federal holiday guidance [1].