Providing for the Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on December 5, 2018
Signed: December 1, 2018
Published: December 4, 2018
Document Number: 2018-26552
📋Summary
This executive order directs all federal executive departments and agencies to close on December 5, 2018, to honor former President George H. W. Bush. It affects most federal offices and employees, treating the day like a federal closure for pay and leave purposes. Agency leaders may keep certain offices open and require some employees to work if needed for national security, defense, or other essential public needs. The Office of Personnel Management is instructed to take the steps needed to carry out the closure.
💼Business Impact
This order created a one-day federal government closure (Dec. 5, 2018), so businesses most affected were those that rely on in-person or same-day federal services: government contractors, importers/exporters and logistics firms (Customs/port-related touchpoints), regulated industries needing agency approvals (FDA, EPA, FCC, DOT), and companies with immigration/travel processing needs. The main “compliance” impact is operational—expect delayed filings, inspections, permits, payments, hearings, and procurement actions—while some mission-critical functions could continue if agencies kept specific offices open for national security/public need. Immediate actions businesses should consider are: confirm with your contracting officer/agency contacts whether your program office is operating and whether deliverables/invoicing deadlines shift; reschedule time-sensitive appointments (inspections, interviews, bid submissions) and build a 1–3 day buffer for downstream processing; and communicate proactively with customers and suppliers about potential federal-service delays that could affect shipments, licensing, or project milestones.
Full Text
Executive Order 13852 of December 1, 2018
Providing for the Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on December 5, 2018
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1 . All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed on December 5, 2018, as a mark of respect for George Herbert Walker Bush, the forty-first President of the United States.
Sec. 2 . The heads of executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty on December 5, 2018, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.
Sec. 3 . December 5, 2018, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 of February 11, 1971, and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States.
Sec. 4 . The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement this order.
Sec. 5 . General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
( printed page 62688)(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 1, 2018.