Jimmy Carter lies in state at the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers pay respects

Former President Jimmy Carter‘s casket arrived at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday afternoon for a military tribute and to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. 

The streets of Washington, D.C., with the ground covered in snow from a recent storm, were quiet as his casket passed. Members of Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris, Cabinet secretaries and Carter’s family members are paying their respects in a service in the Capitol Rotunda. 

“Today, we gather to begin a final farewell to Jimmy Carter — Navy veteran, peanut farmer, governor of Georgia, and president of the United States,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said, opening the service. “Sunday school teacher, Nobel prize winner, advocate for peace and human rights, and first and foremost, a faithful servant of his creator, and of his fellow man.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Carter “modeled the virtues of service and citizenship as well as any other American,” noting Carter’s volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity and efforts to broker peace and equality. 

Harris called Carter “a forward-looking president with a vision for the future” who was an “all too rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty and grace.” 

“James Earl Carter Jr. loved our country. He lived his faith, he served the people and he left the world better than he found it,” Harris said. “And in the end, Jimmy Carter’s work and those works speak for him louder than any tribute we can offer.” 

The state funeral is set for Thursday. President Biden will be delivering a eulogy at Thursday’s service, along with several others. President-elect Donald Trump said he will attend. 

Carter lay in repose in Atlanta as part of six days of observances that began Saturday with a service at his boyhood home in Plains, Georgia. The Carter Center said Tuesday morning that more than 23,000 people came to pay their respects to the former president. 

“This is somebody from a small town in south Georgia who was a peanut farmer who ultimately became the president of the United States,” said Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, at the Plains service on Saturday. “It’s a pretty remarkable American story.”

Carter, the 39th president, died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100 — living longer than any president in U.S. history. His beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, died in November 2023.

On Tuesday, Carter’s body was flown Atlanta to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where his casket was transferred with ceremony to a hearse. From there, a motorcade traveled to the U.S. Navy Memorial, where his casket was transferred from a hearse to a horse-drawn caisson with ceremony.

Carter will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda until Thursday, and members of the public will be able to pay their respects. His funeral service Thursday will be held at the National Cathedral before his remains are flown back to Georgia.

There will be a final private service in Plains, and Carter will be buried next to Rosalynn Carter at his family’s peanut farm. 

Full schedule of Tuesday’s events (all times Eastern): 

Georgia

• 9:30 a.m.: Public visitation ends.
• 11:30 a.m.: President Carter leaves the Carter Presidential Center for the final time with a departure ceremony. The family then accompanies the remains to Dobbins Air Reserve Base outside Atlanta.
• 12:10 p.m.:  Arrive at Dobbins Air Reserve Base for departure ceremony.
• 12:45 p.m.: The family and President Carter’s remains board Special Air Mission 39 and depart for Washington.

Washington, D.C.

• 2:15 p.m.:  Special Air Mission 39 arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, where President Carter’s remains will be transferred with ceremony to a hearse.
• 2:45 p.m.: The family and President Carter’s remains will then travel by motorcade to the U.S. Navy Memorial.
• 3:30 p.m.:  The remains are transferred from the hearse to a horse-drawn caisson for a procession to the U.S. Capitol. Military body bearers will carry the casket into the Capitol Rotunda.
• 4:30 p.m.: Members of Congress will pay their respects during a service in the Rotunda.
• 7 p.m.-midnight:  President Carter will lie in state while the military maintains a guard of honor. The public is invited to pay their respects throughout these hours.