Flags at the U.S. Capitol will be flown at full height on Inauguration Day — before the end of a 30-day mourning period in honor of former Pres. Jimmy Carter — House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed Tuesday.
“On January 20th, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump,” the Louisiana Republican wrote on social media Tuesday morning.
The flags will be returned to half-staff the following day, he added.
Johnson’s announcement directly contradicts the U.S. Code, which states that the “flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President.”
It also disregards a proclamation signed by President Joe Biden on Dec. 29 directing U.S. flags “be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds” until sunset on Jan. 28 as a way to honor the former president and “show an expression of public sorrow.”
Earlier this month, President-elect Donald Trump took to his social media platform to express outrage that “the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half-mast,” which is something he claims “nobody wants to see.”
However, Trump’s assertion is factually incorrect. Flags were flown at half-mast during Richard Nixon’s second inauguration in January 1973, which followed the death of former President Harry S. Truman.
Earlier this week, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott also defied White House directives by ordering all flags at the Texas Capitol and state buildings to be raised to full height on January 20. Abbott stated that the decision was made to “celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America.”