Biden orders flags at half-staff for Harry Reid

President Biden on Wednesday ordered flags outside government buildings be flown at half-staff to honor the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who died on Tuesday at the age of 82.

Biden directed flags outside the White House, military posts, embassies and on federal lands be lowered on the day of Reid’s internment. Funeral arrangements are expected to be made public in the coming days.

“Throughout his long career of public service, Harry Reid was instrumental in passing landmark legislation that made a positive difference in the lives of countless Americans and made our Nation stronger and safer,” Biden said in a proclamation honoring Reid. “His devoted service to our Nation was not about power for power’s sake. It was about the power to do right by the American people.”

Biden served alongside Reid in the Senate for more than two decades, and the two men worked closely together when Biden was vice president and Reid was the majority leader, including to pass the Affordable Care Act.

Reid, who died years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, served as majority leader from 2007 to 2015 before retiring from politics in 2017 as one of the most influential and powerful Democratic leaders ever to serve in Washington.

He was elected Senate Democratic whip in 1998 and Senate Democratic leader in 2004, and became majority leader when Democrats took over the House and Senate at the height of public frustration with the Iraq War.