Johnson: Flags Will Be Raised During Trump Inauguration

Flags that were at half-staff to mourn the 39th president will be raised for the inauguration of the 47th. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff when President-elect Trump is inaugurated on Monday, Politico reports. They were lowered after Jimmy Carter's death on Dec. 29. The flags will fly at full-staff on Jan. 20 "to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump," Johnson said in a post on X. "The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter."

President Biden issued the order to lower the flags for 30 days last month, following tradition and the US flag code. Trump expressed that Democrats were "giddy" about flags being at half-staff when he is sworn in and said he would push for a change, the New York Times reports. Republican governors in states including Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee also plan to raise flags to full-staff on Inauguration Day, reports the AP. The last time a presidential inauguration happened during the mourning period for a former president, flags remained at half-staff, in that case, to honor Harry Truman as Richard Nixon was sworn in. (More Trump inauguration stories.)