Pence to visit lying in state of civil rights icon John Lewis

Vice President Pence will visit the Capitol on Monday evening to honor Rep. John Lewis, the longtime Georgia Democratic lawmaker and civil rights icon who is lying in state today at the Rotunda. 

Pence and second lady Karen Pence will visit the Capitol to pay their respects Monday evening, after the vice president returns from a trip to Miami, Fla., to discuss coronavirus vaccine trials, according to his public schedule.

Lewis’s casket will be moved from the rotunda and displayed outside at the top of the steps of the Capitol building so that members of the public can pay their respects to the late congressman while also adhering to public health guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. The outdoor public viewing will take place Monday evening and all day Tuesday.

Masks will be required to enter the line to view Lewis’s casket and social distancing will be enforced, according to a statement issued by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last week.

Lewis, a key figure of the civil rights movement who survived a brutal beating by Alabama state troopers during “Bloody Sunday” in 1965, died at the age of 80 after a battle with cancer earlier this month.

President Trump, who is traveling to North Carolina, is not scheduled to attend the lying in state Monday and it is unclear if he plans to do so on Tuesday. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Friday that she had “no announcements” regarding Trump’s schedule when asked if he would travel to the Capitol to view Lewis’s casket. 

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., to pay respects to Lewis at the Capitol on Monday.