U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has declined a request by the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s family to have the civil rights leader lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol — but alternative Washington, D.C., locations are being discussed, and the push for a Capitol viewing isn’t quite over.
The Johnson denial fell in line with past precedents set for officials in the Rotunda of the Capitol. The speaker’s office confirmed the denial to the Sun-Times, and added that a request from former Vice President Dick Cheney’s family was also declined for the same reason.
As of Friday, the Jackson family had been exploring alternative locations in Washington, including Howard University, the Washington National Cathedral or the National Museum of African American History. The family is also planning for Jackson to lie in honor at the state Capitol in South Carolina — making Jackson the first African American to do so.
There is still an effort to see whether Jackson could lie in honor in another part of the Capitol. A concurrent resolution is needed to lie in the Rotunda, but Johnson would have to announce the use of National Statuary Hall to lie in honor. Republicans in September held a vigil for conservative activist Charlie Kirk in National Statuary Hall. Kirk was assassinated last September in Utah.
The Old Supreme Court Chamber, the entrance to the House Chamber and the East Central Front Portico have also all been used for those who have laid in state. Lying in state is reserved for officials, like presidents and members of Congress, while lying in honor is reserved for private citizens.
The Congressional Black Caucus is actively pursuing options for Jackson to have a Capitol viewing and will return to Washington next week for President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
Former President Jimmy Carter was the last person to lie in state in the Rotunda, which took place last year.
The Jackson family this week announced that it would hold events in South Carolina, where Jackson was born, and in Washington, D.C., to allow people to mourn the civil rights leader. Details on the South Carolina and Washington events are still being finalized but will happen between March 1 and 5.
Jackson will lie in state Thursday, Feb. 26, and Friday, Feb. 27, at Rainbow PUSH’s Kenwood headquarters at 930 E. 50th St. The services both days will start at 10 a.m. A “People’s Celebration” in Chicago will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 6, at House of Hope at 752 E. 114th St. Doors open at 9 a.m. Private homegoing services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, March 7, at Rainbow PUSH. Doors open at 8 a.m., with limited capacity.
Relatives of Jackson said that “all are welcome,” regardless of political party.
Jackson died at age 84 on Tuesday. He had been in declining health for a decade. In 2017 he announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years earlier, but last April he revealed that it was actually misdiagnosed progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder. He stepped down as president of PUSH in July 2023, citing health concerns. Jackson appeared onstage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August 2024, when he was presented to the crowd after a video celebrating his life, but he did not speak.
Trump was among top political leaders to extend his sympathies after Jackson’s death.
“I knew him well, long before becoming President,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “He was very gregarious — Someone who truly loved people! Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way.”