In an announcement Wednesday, House Administration Committee Chairman Candice Miller, R-Mich., wrote:
"I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Members of the House may include holiday greetings in their communications to constituents. In the past, including any form of a holiday greeting was banned. While still prohibiting the misuse of official funds, this new commonsense policy allows Members to share their holiday wishes with constituents in otherwise official communications. I feel it is entirely appropriate for members of Congress to include a simple holiday salutation, whether it is Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and so on. "
Members of Congress are given free postage – called "franking" – to send official mail to their constituents, but the contents of that mail are regulated by a congressional "Franking Commission," which Miller also chairs. The general rule is that mailings sent out under the frank are supposed to be official business only, not political material – newsletters describing the lawmakers' legislation or announcing public events in the district, that sort of thing.
The House apparently concluded that being official does not have to mean being unfestive.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/
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