Federal courts observe the legal public holidays of 5 U.S.C. § 6103(a). Rule 6(a)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure makes each of them a legal holiday for computing time, together with any day the President or Congress declares a holiday and, for periods counted forward, any day declared a holiday by the state where the district court sits. In 2027 the list produces twelve closed weekdays, because New Year’s Day 2028 is observed early.
Weekend holidays and the Friday rule
Section 6103(b) and Executive Order 11582 move a Saturday holiday to the Friday before and a Sunday holiday to the Monday after. Three 2027 holidays are affected: Juneteenth on Saturday, June 19 is observed Friday, June 18; Independence Day on Sunday, July 4 is observed Monday, July 5; and Christmas on Saturday, December 25 is observed Friday, December 24. The same rule reaches into the next year: New Year’s Day 2028 is a Saturday, so is a federal holiday, which closes the courts for a four-day weekend at the end of the year.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | |
| Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. | |
| Washington's Birthday | |
| Memorial Day | |
| Juneteenth National Independence Day (observed) | |
| Independence Day (observed) | |
| Labor Day | |
| Columbus Day | |
| Veterans Day | |
| Thanksgiving Day | |
| Christmas Day (observed) | |
| New Year's Day 2028 (observed) |
Source: OPM federal holidays 2027 and 2028 · verified 2026-11-06.
How the list changes a count
A federal period counts every calendar day, so these dates matter only when one of them is the last day. Rule 6(a)(1)(C) then runs the period to the next day that is not a weekend or holiday. Three weeks after is Monday, December 27, an ordinary court day; but 30 days after Wednesday, November 24 is Christmas Eve, the observed Christmas, and the period runs through the weekend to Monday, December 27. For a period counted backward under Rule 6(a)(5), the same days push the deadline earlier.
Closures a district adds
Individual courts close on days that are not legal holidays: the day after Thanksgiving in several districts, an afternoon before Christmas, or a weather emergency. Those closures do not move a deadline on their own; Rule 6(a)(3) extends a period only when the clerk’s office is inaccessible, and only for filings that could not be made electronically. The federal calculator lists the announced closures we track for 16 districts and flags a deadline that lands on one rather than moving it.
State holidays in a federal courthouse
For a period counted forward, Rule 6(a)(6)(C) adds the holidays “declared by the state” where the court sits. The California, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Georgia pages show those lists; the federal calculator applies them when you choose the forum state and flags the days whose status in federal court is undecided.
Download the Federal 2027 list
- Federal legal holidays 2027: iCalendar (.ics) · CSV
The files are regenerated whenever a list changes; the changelog records each change, and the 2027 overview shows every system side by side.
Questions about federal holidays in 2027
Is December 31, 2027 a federal court holiday?
Yes. New Year’s Day 2028 falls on a Saturday, and 5 U.S.C. § 6103(b) makes the preceding Friday the legal holiday for federal employees, so the clerk’s office is closed on and a deadline landing on it moves to (Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(6)(A)).
Why are there two Friday holidays in June and December 2027?
Juneteenth (June 19) and Christmas (December 25) both fall on a Saturday in 2027, so each is observed on the Friday before, June 18 and December 24. The Saturday itself is already a non-counting last day under Rule 6(a)(1)(C).
Do federal courts close on the day after Thanksgiving?
Not as a legal holiday: is not on the § 6103 list. A district court may close by order, and for a deadline counted forward the holidays of the state where the court sits also count under Rule 6(a)(6)(C); California, Illinois, Florida and Georgia all treat that Friday as a holiday.