Jan. 14 (UPI) — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson granted President-elect Trump’s request to suspend a 30-day mourning period for former President Jimmy Carter in order to fly flags at full staff during the inauguration.
Johnson’s decision to raise flags during an official mourning period for a former president joins with a similar recent move by Texas to also raise flags there. Both decisions were made by Republican leaders and fly in the face of longstanding U.S. tradition.
On Tuesday, Johnson announced the flags at the Capitol on Jan. 20 will fly at full staff to “celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President,” the Louisiana Republican wrote in a statement later in the morning.
“The flags will be lowered back to half staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter,” he said.
The ex-president was laid to rest last week at his home in Plains, Ga., after a 3-day state funeral in Washington attended by every living U.S. president, vice president and first lady, except former first lady Michelle Obama.
It arrived less than a week before Trump’s second inaugural and days after Trump raised the flags to full-staff at his Florida estate in open defiance to Biden and Gov. Ron DeSantis of the historic protocol to keep at half-staff following the death of an American president — a move of respect which one day also will be afforded to Trump.
Last month, President Joe Biden ordered flags be lowered to half staff for 30 days per tradition after Carter, the 39th president, who died last month at 100.
Trump claimed Democrats were “giddy” over the idea of flags being lowered for the swearing-in ceremony.
Tuesday’s announcement follows a similar decision by Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott, a conservative Republican and fellow Trump ally, who ordered all flags raised to full-staff at the state’s Capitol in Austin and all state buildings on Jan. 20.
On Monday, Abbott’s office cited a federal statute that says a U.S. flag should be displayed “especially on … Inauguration Day” as his reason to break the federal proclamation.
