CAPITOL HONOR
Female members of Congress pay their respects as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in state Friday at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Ginsburg was the first woman and Jewish person to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made history one final time Friday as she became the first woman and Jewish person to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began the day’s events with a formal arrival ceremony at National Statuary Hall, in which eight military pallbearers carried Ginsburg’s flag-draped casket up the Capitol steps as lawmakers stood in somber observance.
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led Ginsburg’s family into the large hall before her casket was carried inside. Lawmakers and guests, including Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, held their hands over their hearts as Ginsburg’s casket was placed on the Lincoln Catafalque, which first supported President Abraham Lincoln’s casket in the U.S. Capitol after his assassination in 1865.
“It is with deep sympathy to the Ginsburg family that I have the high honor to welcome Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to lie in state in the Capitol of the United States,” Pelosi said in brief opening remarks.
Many female lawmakers were in attendance, including vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris. Elizabeth Salas, the late justice’s housekeeper, was seated near Biden.
The bipartisan, masked group honoring Ginsburg’s 27 years on the high court and her legacy as a pioneer for gender equality remained safely distanced in the approximately 100 seats. But the two highest-ranking Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, did not attend.
“Justice Ginsburg embodied justice, brilliance and goodness,” Pelosi said in a statement Friday. “Her passing is an incalculable loss for our democracy and for all who strive to build a better future for our children.”
In a nod to Ginsburg’s passion for opera, American soprano Denyce Graves – a friend whom the justice saw perform many times – sang “Deep River” and “American Anthem” before lawmakers and other guests filed past her casket in small groups to say their goodbyes.
“America, America, I gave my best to you,” Graves belted out in the marbled hall.
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, whose husband clerked for Ginsburg, offered a moving reflection on Ginsburg’s life and legacy.
“Pursuing justice took resilience, persistence, a commitment to never stop,” Holtzblatt said. “As a lawyer, she won equality for women and men, not in one swift victory, but brick by brick, case by case.”
In one light and loving moment, Ginsburg’s athletic trainer, Bryant Johnson – in a mask, suit and tie – stopped alone in front of her casket, got down into a plank and did three push-ups.
Among of the last mourners to file by the justice’s casket were Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led by House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving. The Pentagon entourage encircled her casket and held their hands clasped in front of them, heads bowed for several minutes.
Ginsburg will be buried in a private ceremony next week at Arlington National Cemetery, where her late husband Martin was buried in 2010.
Friday’s event was not open to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thirty-four men have received the honor of lying in state at the Capitol since it was initially bestowed on Henry Clay in 1852. Civil rights icon Rosa Parks was lain in “honor” at the Capitol Rotunda in 2005, but Ginsburg is the first woman to lie in state.
The last person to be given the honor was Georgia congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, who died in July. Most of those who have lain in state were presidents, prominent members of Congress and military leaders. The only other Supreme Court justice to lie in state was William Howard Taft, who served as chief justice after his term as president.
The ceremony at the U.S. Capitol follows two days of Ginsburg lying in repose across the street at the Supreme Court, where mourners lined up for blocks to say goodbye to the liberal icon who died last week after a lengthy battle with cancer.