Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Republican leadership staff is reviewing “protocol” about the possibility of former Vice President Dick Cheney lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
“I think we’re checking the protocols on that. I’ll let you know soon,” Thune told reporters Tuesday when asked about honoring the former vice president by placing his flag-draped casket at the center of the rotunda, an honor usually reserved for former presidents.
The last person to lie in state was former President Jimmy Carter in 2025.
Before that, former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (Kan.) lay in state in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
The last former vice president who did not later rise to the presidency to lie in state was former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who was accorded the honor in 1978. He held the role of majority whip in the Senate.
Former President George H.W. Bush, who served as vice president to former President Reagan before being elected president in 1988, lay in state in December 2018.
