LIVE: Jimmy Carter’s funeral services move from Atlanta to DC

ATLANTA – After days of tributes in Georgia, former President Jimmy Carter is heading to Washington, D.C. for the next part of his funeral.

The 39th president of the United States died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100 after spending almost two years in at-home hospice care. He was the longest-lived president in U.S. history.

Carter’s funeral procession began Saturday near where he grew up in southwest Georgia. Since then, thousands of visitors have paid their respects to the former president at the Carter Presidential Center.

On Tuesday, Carter’s remains will begin their final trip to Washington, D.C. to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. After the National Funeral Service on Thursday, Carter will travel back to Georgia where he will be buried in his hometown of Plains next to his beloved wife, Rosalynn.

Here is what you need to know about the upcoming funeral events.

Live timeline of Carter funeral services

11:07 a.m.: Among those at the ceremony are Carter Center and Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum staff, volunteers, interns, graduate assistants, library docents, catering and Goodwill staff who are paying their respects and observing Carter’s final departure from the center he founded more than 40 years ago with his wife, Rosalynn. 

11:05 a.m. With the sounds of “Hail to the Chief” and “Amazing Grace” playing in the air by the 282d Army Band, the pallbearers carried Carter’s casket silently to the hearse, passing by men and women standing at attention to honor the former president.   

11 a.m.: The hearse has arrived and is waiting for the motorcade to arrive and former President’s body to be placed inside for his final trip to Washington, D.C.

10 a.m.: All is quiet at the Carter Center while preparations are being made to take Jimmy Carter to the nation’s capital. In just an hour, the ceremony is set to begin at the Circle of Flags at the Carter Presidential Library. From there, a motorcade will head to Dobbins Air Reserve Base. 

7 a.m.: Following one last solemn changing of the guard, the visitation of former President Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center in Atlanta is nearly over. The last remaining guests are paying their respects before officials begin preparing the former president’s coffin to be taken to Washington, D.C. 

Jimmy Carter Funeral Schedule: Upcoming Events

Tuesday, Jan. 7:

• At 11:30 a.m., Carter will depart The Carter Center. He and his family will travel to Dobbins Air Reserve Base and board Special Air Mission 39, scheduled to depart at 12:45 p.m.
• Upon arrival in Washington, D.C., a motorcade will take the Carter family and the former President’s casket to the U.S. Navy Memorial at 2:45 p.m.
• A horse-drawn caisson will lead a funeral procession “designed to mirror Carter’s inaugural parade.”
• The procession is scheduled to reach the Capitol Plaza at 4:10 p.m.
• Carter will then be carried by the military to the Rotunda, where members of Congress will pay their respects during a service at 4:30 p.m.
• He will then lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, with the public allowed to visit from 6 p.m. to midnight.
• The Democratic and Republican members of Capitol Hill and White House staff who served during the Carter Administration are invited to pay their respects between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. as a special request of the Carter family.

Wednesday, Jan. 8:

• Carter will continue to lie in state, with a military guard of honor present. The public may pay their respects from 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Jan. 9.

Thursday, Jan. 9:

• Carter will depart the U.S. Capitol at 9 a.m. and travel by motorcade to Washington National Cathedral for a brief arrival ceremony at 9:30 a.m., followed by the National Funeral Service at 10 a.m.
• Following the service, Carter and his family will return to Joint Base Andrews and board Special Air Mission 39 at 11:45 a.m.
• Special Air Mission 39 will arrive at Lawson Army Airfield in Fort Moore, Georgia, at 2 p.m. Carter and his family will then travel by motorcade to Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains for a private funeral service at 3:45 p.m.

After the service, the motorcade will take Carter and his family to his home for private interment next to his wife at 5:30 p.m.

The public is invited to line the motorcade route through Plains after the funeral to pay their respects.

Prior to Carter’s interment, the U.S. Navy will conduct a missing man formation flyover in honor of his naval service and time as commander-in-chief.

Jimmy Carter Day of Mourning

President Biden has declared Thursday a National Day of Mourning as a “mark of respect” for the former president. Most federal government executive departments and agencies will be closed, except for those essential to national security, defense, or other critical needs.

MORE: National Day of Mourning on Jan. 9 for Jimmy Carter | What’s open, closed

On that morning, the late former president’s state funeral will be held at Washington National Cathedral. 

Former U.S. presidents are expected to be present for the service, including President-elect Donald Trump, who stated on New Year’s Eve he would be attending the funeral.

Where will Jimmy Carter be buried?

Following the state funeral in Washington, President Carter’s remains will then be transported from the nation’s capitol, back to Georgia, where a private ceremony will take place at Maranatha Baptist Church, the church in Plains where Carter taught Sunday school for years.

After the private service, the former president will be taken via a short motorcade to the Carter Home and Garden, part of Jimmy Carter National Historic Park. The public is invited to line the motorcade route.

 Carter will be buried near a willow tree on the property, the same location where Rosalynn was buried after she died in 2023.

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How you can support the Carter family

The public can share condolences on Jimmy Carter’s official tribute website. The site has an online condolence book as well as print and visual biographical materials commemorating his life.

As of Monday, The Carter Center says that they have received more than 16,000 condolence messages from 133 countries and territories through the website. 

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