The decision to buck President Biden’s order to fly flags at half-staff through President Trump’s inauguration is now a bipartisan one, as Governor Newsom’s office announced that flags will be temporarily raised to full-staff on January 20. 

In line with the precedent for when an American president dies, Mr. Biden ordered the flag to be flown at half-staff, a symbol of mourning, in honor of the late President Carter. The 30-day period also overlaps with Trump’s inauguration, which has frustrated the president-elect.

A spokesman for Mr. Newsom, Izzy Gardon, confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that the governor of the Golden State will order flags to be temporarily raised to full-staff for the inauguration at the state Capitol.

Mr. Newsom’s decision comes as wildfires have devastated neighborhoods around Los Angeles. As state officials seek federal aid, some Republicans in Congress are openly suggesting that federal assistance should be linked to certain conditions, such as an increase of the debt ceiling or requiring California to change its water policies. Trump has also publicly criticized Mr. Newsom and other state leaders for their preparations ahead of the fires, suggesting they were more focused on environmental protections, which the governor denies. 

The precedent for lowering the flag was started in 1954 with a proclamation from President Eisenhower that the flag should be flown at half-staff for 30 days. 

Trump has criticized the decision to keep the flag at half-staff through January 20. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, “The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration. They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.

“In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it,” he said. 

Trump’s inauguration is not the first time a president has been sworn in while the flag flew at half-staff. It happened most recently in 1973. President Nixon ordered the flag to be flown at half-staff after President Truman’s death, and the 30-day period overlapped with his second inauguration.

Governor Abbott was the first governor to order flags to be raised to full-staff for Trump’s inauguration when he announced the decision on Monday. As of Thursday morning, the Republican governors of Alabama, Florida, Idaho,  Iowa, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have also ordered the flag to be temporarily raised to full-staff. Mr. Newsom is the first Democratic governor to issue such an order. 

Speaker Johnson also said the flag would be flown at full-staff on Capitol Hill on January 20. 

Mr. Biden’s order is scheduled to end on January 28. He could choose to temporarily order flags to be raised to full-staff. However, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has indicated that the 46th president will not alter the order.

While the flags will be at half-staff or full-staff in some parts of the country, there will also be some high-profile Democrats who choose to skip the event. Former Speaker Pelosi will not be in attendance, a spokesman told ABC News. However, he did not provide an explanation for why she will not be there.