Harry Reid to lie in state at Capitol on Jan. 12

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will lie in state at the Capitol on Jan. 12, congressional leaders announced Sunday night. 

A joint statement from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) said the formal arrival and departure ceremonies will be open to invited guests only, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Senator Harry Reid was a titan of public service, who for more than four decades fought relentlessly for working families like his own,” Pelosi said in the statement. 

“It is my solemn honor as House Speaker to pay tribute to a legendary leader, a great American and my dear friend, Senator Harry Reid,” she added. 

“He was tough-as-nails strong, but caring and compassionate, and always went out of his way quietly to help people who needed help,” Schumer added of Reid.

“Few dedicated their life and career to working for and delivering for working families like Harry Reid, and it will be an honor to pay tribute to him in the Capitol next week,” he added. 

Reid, who had pancreatic cancer, died last week at the age of 82.

“On behalf of our family, I want to thank Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer for this incredible honor and for their continued graciousness and support,” Reid’s wife, Landra Reid, said in a statement released on Monday.

“Harry spent decades in those halls fighting for what he believed was right and forging lifelong friendships,” Landra Reid added. “We’re touched and grateful for the opportunity to honor Harry and his accomplishments.”

Harry Reid served over 30 years in the House and the Senate, retiring in 2017. He served as the majority leader of the upper chamber between 2006 and 2014.

Among the key legislation he helped pass was were Affordable Care Act, which required keeping all of his Democratic caucus’ 60 members united, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Reid was also known for his partisanship, beloved by Democrats and combative with Republicans, once accusing then-2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney of being a tax cheat and calling then-President George Bush a “liar.”

Upon announcing the news of his death, Jon Ralston, a longtime political reporter, called the late lawmaker “probably the most important elected official in Nevada history.”

Jordain Carney contributed to this report, which was updated on Jan. 3 at 2:30 p.m.