Jan. 8 (UPI) — Mourners continued to pay their respects to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.
The 39th president lies in state and will be laid to rest on Thursday, which President Joe Biden has declared a National Day of Mourning.
His body has been at the U.S. Capitol’s Rotunda since Tuesday and will remain until Thursday morning, when he will be moved to the Washington National Cathedral. President Joe Biden will deliver a eulogy then, during which dignitaries, including President-elect Donald Trump, will attend.
Visitors can pay their respects into Wednesday evening with no set time to end visitations at the Capitol Rotunda.
Public viewing ends at 7 a.m. EST on Thursday, and a private departure ceremony is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. in the East Plaza when Carter’s body is scheduled to be moved to the National Cathedral.
A state funeral is scheduled at 10 a.m. at the National Cathedral, after which Carter’s body will be flown to Georgia at 11:45 a.m. and taken to his former church in Plains, Ga., for a private funeral.
The church is the same one where Carter formerly taught Sunday school and attended worship services.
Carter will be interred in a plot next to his wife, Rosalynn, who died in 2023 and to whom he was married for 77 years.
“I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship … to pay homage to the memory of President James Earl Carter Jr.,” Biden said in his Dec. 29 proclamation declaring Thursday a National Day of Mourning.
Flags will be flown at half-staff at the White House and all public buildings and properties for 30 days from the date of Carter’s death on Dec. 29.
Stock markets, the U.S. Postal Service and all federal agencies and departments are closed on Thursday. USPS will provide some limited package delivery service, though.
The U.S. Supreme Court building also will be closed on Thursday, but the court already did not have any hearings scheduled.
Many federal courts also will be closed on the National Day of Mourning, but officials at each respective federal courthouse have the option to close or continue their respective calendars on Thursday.
The U.S. Capitol reopens at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. So do all federal courts, departments and agencies, including the USPS, and stock markets.
