When are the scheduled House and Senate recess weeks in 2025 and what dates do they cover?
Executive summary
The Senate’s tentative 2025 legislative schedule and several published calendars show recurring recess weeks: a first Senate (and House) recess the week of March 17 after an initial 10-week stretch, multiple single-week breaks tied to federal holidays through the year, and two separate two‑week November recesses — one around Veterans Day and another for Thanksgiving — with the Senate planning to adjourn for the year on Dec. 19 (the House a day earlier) [1] [2] [3].
1. How the official calendars were published and what they cover
Both chambers publish their calendars: the Senate posted a “Tentative 2025 Legislative Schedule” listing expected non‑legislative periods (days the Senate is not in session) [2] [3], and the House released its calendar through the Majority Leader’s office and House press resources [4] [5]. Independent compilations and private groups (law firms, trade associations) have also produced combined calendars for planning purposes [6] [7] [8], but the authoritative source for Senate recess dates is the Senate schedule [2] [3].
2. The opening stretch and the first recess (March week)
The Senate schedule shows the new Congress convening Jan. 3, 2025, and lawmakers in both chambers are set for roughly 10 straight weeks in session before a first break; the Senate’s first recess is listed as the week of March 17, when the House is also off [1]. That initial block includes a Presidents’ Day break noted on Feb. 17 within the 10‑week period [1].
3. Holiday‑driven single‑week recesses across the year
The Senate calendar explicitly maps several single‑week recesses tied to federal observances: a week in mid‑October for Columbus Day (with the House scheduled to return the following Tuesday) and other standard holiday breaks that show as non‑legislative periods in the Senate schedule [1] [2]. The Senate calendar file also presents these non‑legislative periods visually in a PDF calendar [3].
4. Two distinct November recesses — Veterans Day and Thanksgiving
Roll Call and the chamber calendars report that both the House and Senate are scheduled to take two separate two‑week recesses in November 2025: one around Veterans Day and another for Thanksgiving [1]. Roll Call repeats that phrasing and places the two November breaks distinctly in the calendar rather than a single long November recess [1].
5. End‑of‑year adjournment dates
According to the Senate’s tentative schedule and reporting, the Senate’s target adjournment for 2025 is Dec. 19, with the House slated to wrap up a day earlier [3] [1]. The Senate calendar PDF carries the official target adjournment notation [3].
6. Where specific date ranges can be found (and limits of this reporting)
The Senate’s PDF calendar and the “Tentative 2025 Legislative Schedule” list the non‑legislative days and show recess weeks in calendar form [2] [3]. The Roll Call story summarizes major recess patterns and highlights the two November two‑week recesses and other holiday breaks [1]. Private and advocacy calendars (Faegre Drinker, K&L Gates, NAB compilations) reproduce these dates in chart form for stakeholders but are derivative of the official schedules [7] [9] [10]. Available sources do not mention a full day‑by‑day enumeration of every recess week in plain text in this set of documents; they present the schedule in PDFs and calendar graphics [2] [3] [4].
7. Competing perspectives and practical implications
Official schedules represent targets; both chambers can change planned recesses to respond to major legislative needs. Roll Call and the Senate documents frame these as planned recesses, not immutable law [1] [2]. The practical effect is that lobbyists, agencies and outside groups rely on these calendars for planning (see compilations from private firms), but those calendars carry implicit agendas: firms publish clear color‑coded calendars to help clients schedule advocacy windows and meetings when Congress will be in session or absent [6] [7] [9].
8. What to consult for exact date ranges and last‑minute changes
For precise day‑by‑day recess dates and any updates, consult the Senate’s “Tentative 2025 Legislative Schedule” PDF and the House calendar pages released by the Majority Leader and House press gallery; those sources show the non‑legislative periods graphically and are the primary references cited here [2] [3] [4] [5]. Roll Call provides a journalist’s summary useful for quick reading but uses the chamber calendars as its source [1].
Limitations: this article relies on the Senate’s published tentative schedule and Roll Call’s reporting; specific, line‑by‑line date ranges are available in the referenced PDFs and calendar graphics rather than in full enumerated text in the searchable snippets used here [2] [3] [1].