Sen. John McCain to lie in state
A cross-country procession is planned between Arizona and Washington, D.C., where he will lie in the Capitol Rotunda. Services are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
WASHINGTON — Two former presidents are expected to speak at Sen. John McCain’s service and he will lie in state in both the nation’s capital and Arizona as part of a cross-country funeral procession ending with his burial at the U.S. Naval Academy, according to plans taking shape Sunday.
McCain had long feuded with President Donald Trump, and two White House officials said McCain’s family had asked, before the senator’s death, that Trump not attend the funeral services. Vice President Mike Pence is likely to attend, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A day after McCain died of brain cancer at 81, his family, friends and congressional and state leaders were working out details of the farewell to the decorated Vietnam War hero, prisoner of war and sixterm senator.
His office website said McCain will lie in state and have funeral services in Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday. The procession will then head to Washington, where McCain will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. There will then be a procession past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral. A private funeral is planned at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Trump tweeted that his “deepest sympathies and respect” went out to McCain’s family. First lady Melania Trump tweeted thanks to McCain for his service to the country.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who blocked McCain’s own White House ambitions, are among those expected to speak at McCain’s funeral.
“These were bitter contests, both of them,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and “to ask them to speak at your funeral, and for them to be honored at the opportunity, that tells you all you need to know.”
McCain died at his ranch near Sedona, Ariz., after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.
A black hearse, accompanied by a police motorcade, could be seen driving away from the ranch near Sedona where McCain spent his final weeks. For 50 miles along Interstate 17 southbound, on every overpass and at every exit ramp, people watched the procession.
Congressional leaders announced that McCain would lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, though they did not give a date. “The nation mourns the loss of a great American patriot, a statesman who put his country first and enriched this institution through many years of service,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Arizona will accord McCain that honor Wednesday, when he would have turned 82. “This is a rare and distinct occurrence for a truly special man,” GOP Gov. Doug Ducey said in a tweet.
Ducey does not plan to announce his selection of a Senate successor to McCain until after McCain’s burial.
Under state law, the governor’s appointee to serve until the next general election in 2020 must come from the same political party.
Trump’s brief Twitter statement said “hearts and prayers” are with the McCain family.
Trump and McCain were at bitter odds until the end.
The president, who as a candidate in 2016 mocked McCain’s capture in Vietnam, had jabbed at the ailing senator for voting against Republican efforts to roll back Obama’s health care law.
Earlier this summer, McCain issued a blistering statement criticizing Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Other tributes poured in from around the globe.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in English that McCain “was a true American hero. He devoted his entire life to his country.”
Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, called McCain “a tireless fighter for a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. His significance went well beyond his own country.”