Ahead of Flag Day, Norton Introduces Bill to Allow President to Order Nation’s Flag at Half-Staff Upon Death of D.C. Mayor, Like Governors
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of Flag Day, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced a bill to add the Mayor of the District of Columbia to the list of principals for whom the president shall order the nation’s flag be flown at half-staff. Current law states that the president shall order the flag to be flown at half-staff “upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory.” Norton said D.C. mayors, who perform many of the same functions as state and territorial governors, clearly qualify as principals and should receive equal recognition.
“Even though the District is not yet the 51st state it strives to be, we should treat a deceased mayor in the same respect as comparable figures of states, territories, or possessions, which are named in the statute,” Norton said. “I can only assume that the omission of the District of Columbia was an oversight and not meant to disrespect a deceased D.C. mayor or the residents of the District of Columbia. Adding D.C.’s mayor to the list of officials who can be honored with flags flown at half-staff is a small but, to D.C. residents, significant way to ensure residents receive the equal treatment they deserve.”
Norton has successfully gotten other congressional recognition of the District of Columbia in situations where the District was overlooked while honoring the states. As a result of her work, the District of Columbia War Memorial honors only District residents who served in World War I; D.C.’s Frederick Douglass and Pierre L’Enfant statues sits in the Capitol alongside statues from the 50 states; the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 requires the armed services to display the District flag whenever the flags of the states are displayed; D.C. has a coin after it was omitted from legislation creating coins for the 50 states; the U.S. Postal Service created a D.C. stamp, like the stamps for the 50 states; and the National Park Service added the D.C. flag alongside the state flags across from Union Station.
Norton’s introductory statement follows.
Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on
the Introduction of a Bill to Permit the Flag of the United States to be Flown at Half-Staff in the Event of the Death of a Mayor of the District of Columbia
June 13, 2025
Today, I introduce a bill that would make a small but respectful change to federal law by adding the Mayor of the District of Columbia to the list of named principals for whom the President shall order the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff. Current law states that the President shall make this order “upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory.” Surely the D.C. Mayor, who has the same responsibilities as governors of states and territories, should qualify as such a principal. This bill is part of our series of bills to ensure equal treatment for the over 700,000 D.C. residents. In the 116th Congress, the House Committee on the Judiciary passed this bill.
Congress has already acknowledged that D.C. is entitled to a place among the states for certain honors. For example, legislation we got enacted gave D.C. a coin after D.C. was omitted from legislation creating coins for the states and required the armed services to display the D.C. flag whenever the flags of the states are displayed. We got D.C.’s Frederick Douglass and Pierre L’Enfant statues placed in the Capitol, alongside two statues from each state. We also successfully worked with the U.S. Postal Service to create a D.C. stamp, like the stamps for the states, and with the National Park Service to add the D.C. flag alongside the state flags near Union Station.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
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