by Misty Severi
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday announced that U.S. flags on Capitol Hill will fly at full-staff next week, during President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but will be returned to half-staff the next day.
The move comes after Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered American flags on state property to fly at full-staff during the inauguration, despite President Joe Biden’s orders to fly the flags at half-staff during a 30-day period of mourning in honor of the late President Jimmy Carter. American flags on state land Tennessee will also be at full-staff.
Trump previously asked the White House to lift the order for the inauguration, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there are no plans to do so.
Johnson said the decision is to “celebrate” the inauguration.
“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,” Johnson wrote in a post on X. “The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter.”
Johnson’s order defies the president’s which is for every American flag nationwide. Biden’s order is in line with Section 4 of the U.S. code, but there is no penalty for noncompliance.
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Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.
