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INSIGHTi

Members of the House of Representatives
Lying in State in the U.S. Capitol
Updated January 7, 2022
On January 12, 2022, Senator Harry M. Reid, who died on December 28, 2021, will lie in state at the U.S.
Capitol. Senator Reid served in the House of Representatives between 1983 and 1987, before being
elected to the Senate. In a joint press release, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer announced that Senator Reid “will lie in state in the United States Capitol Rotunda on
Wednesday, January 12th, and events will include formal arrival and departure ceremony.”
There have been 36 individuals (not including Senator Reid)
Lying in State v. Honor
who have lain in state or honor in the Capitol Rotunda or
Lying in State
National Statuary Hall. The most recent individual to lie in
Current or former government officials (e.g.,
state was Senator Robert Dole on December 9, 2021. The
Member of Congress, President, Vice
most recent individual to lie in honor was United States
President); military leaders; unknown
Capitol Police Officer William “Billy” F. Evans on April 13,
servicemembers from World War I, World
War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era.
2021. Prior to Senator Reid lying in state, a total of 18
individuals who had been a Member of the House of

Representatives had received that honor (see Table 1).
Lying in Honor

Private Citizens
Figure 1 shows Representative Thaddeus Stevens, the first

Representative who did not also serve in another
governmental position, lying in state from August 13 to 14,
1868.
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Figure 1. Lying in State of Representative Thaddeus Stevens
August 13-14, 1868

Source: U.S. Congress, Architect of the Capitol, “Funeral of Thaddeus Stevens in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda,” Lying in State
or Honor, at https://www.aoc.gov/nations-stage/lying-state-honor.
Since President Abraham Lincoln’s death in 1865, the caskets of most individuals who have lain in state
or honor have rested on the Lincoln catafalque. The Lincoln catafalque is a platform constructed in 1865
“to support the casket of Abraham Lincoln while the president’s body lay in state in the U.S. Capitol
Rotunda.”
Authorization Process
The House of Representatives and the Senate jointly control the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. As a shared space,
the use of the Rotunda often involves a concurrent resolution, agreed to by both the House and Senate, to
authorize an individual lying in state or honor. For example, two concurrent resolutions to authorize
Senate Reid lying in State have been introduced:
S.Con.Res. 25 authorizes the use of the Capitol Rotunda for Senator Reid to lie in state;
and
S.Con.Res. 26 authorizes the use of the Lincoln catafalque for Senator Reid’s memorial
service in the Capitol Rotunda.

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In some cases, the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate jointly agree to allow an
individual to lie in state. In recent years, this has occurred in one instance when Congress was not in
session: in December 2006, for President Gerald Ford. In October 2019, Representative Cummings lay in
state in National Statuary Hall, a space controlled by the House of Representatives that does not require a
concurrent resolution for use.
When an individual lies in state or honor in the Rotunda or National Statuary Hall, the Architect of the
Capitol and the U.S. Capitol Police may issue special instructions about public access to the Capitol,
public viewing hours, and other protocols.
Representatives Lying in State
To date, 17 former Members of the House of Representatives have lain in state in the U.S. Capitol, not
including Senator Reid. Speaker of the House Henry Clay, who also served as a Senator and Secretary of
State, was the first Representative to lie in state (July 1, 1852). The most recent former Representative to
lie in state, prior to Senator Reid was Senator Dole.
Three Members of the House who did not also serve in another governmental position have lain in state.
They were Representative Thaddeus Stevens (August 13-14, 1868), Representative Elijah Cummings
(October 24, 2019), and Representative John Lewis (July 27 and July 28, 2020). Table 1 lists the
Representatives who have lain in state.
Table 1. Representatives Who Have Lain in State
(not all individuals were sitting Representatives at the time of their death)
Representative
Date of Death
Date of Lying in State
Other Positions
Henry Clay (Kentucky)
June 29, 1852
July 1, 1852
Speaker of the House,
Senator, Secretary of State
Abraham Lincoln (Illinois)
April 15, 1865
April 19-21, 1865
President
Thaddeus Stevens
August 11, 1868
August 13-14, 1868
—
(Pennsylvania)
James Garfield (Ohio)
September 19, 1881
September 21-23, 1881
President
John Logan (Illinois)
December 26, 1886
December 30-31, 1886
Senator
Wil iam McKinley (Ohio)
September 14, 1901
September 17, 1901
President, Governor
John F. Kennedy
November 22, 1963
November 24-25, 1963
Senator, President
(Massachusetts)
Everett Dirksen (Illinois)
September 7, 1969
September 9-10, 1969
Senator
Lyndon Baines Johnson
January 22, 1973
January 24-25, 1973
Senator, Vice President,
(Texas)
President
Claude Pepper (Florida)
May 30, 1989
June 1-2, 1989
Senator
Gerald Ford (Michigan)
December 26, 2006
December 30, 2006-January
Vice President, President
2, 2007
Daniel Inouye (Hawaii)
December 17, 2012
December 20, 2012
Senator
John McCain (Arizona)
August 25, 2018
August 31, 2018
Senator
George H. W. Bush (Texas)
November 30, 2018
December 3-5, 2018
Vice President, President
Elijah Cummings (Maryland)
October 17, 2019
October 24, 2019
—

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John Lewis (Georgia)
July 17, 2020
July 27-28, 2020
—
Robert J. Dole (Kansas)
December 5, 2021
December 9, 2021
Senator
Harry M. Reid (Nevada)
December 28, 2021
January 12, 2022
Senator
Source: Compiled by CRS from U.S. Congress, Architect of the Capitol, “Those Who Have Lain in State or in Honor in
the Rotunda,” October 2018, at https://www.aoc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/basic-page/us-capitol-lain-state-honor-
2019-01.pdf; and U.S. Congress, House, Office of the Historian, “Individuals Who Have Lain in State or in Honor,” at
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Lie-In-State/Lie-In-State-Honor/.



Author Information

Jacob R. Straus

Specialist on the Congress




Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
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as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the
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IN11472 · VERSION 5 · UPDATED