Obama orders flags to half-staff until Sunday night

President Obama ordered flags at all U.S. government buildings to be flown at half-staff until the end of Sunday in honor of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

The president issued a proclamation on Wednesday afternoon making the official decree of mourning for the veteran senator, also ordering U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff on the day of Kennedy’s burial.

It is not clear when Kennedy will be buried, though preliminary reports have suggested his body will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, near the graves of his two brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.).

Obama said in the proclamation:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy was not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy. Over the past half-century, nearly every major piece of legislation that has advanced the civil rights, health, and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts. With his passing,an important chapter in our American story has come to an end.