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PHOTOS: 2024 Capitol Christmas tree lighting in DC

December 4, 2024, 1:43 PM

Capitol Christmas tree lit during annual lighting ceremony on the Hill
It’s officially the holiday season and even Congress is getting into the spirit. An 80-foot Sitka spruce beamed in the moonlight during the Capitol Christmas tree lighting on Tuesday night.

Among the lawmakers to attend the ceremony on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol were House Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Mary Peltola.

A fourth-grade student from Alaska, Rose Burke, also spoke during the tree lighting.

The tree arrived in the District on Nov. 22 after a long journey from Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.

A group of indigenous people from Alaska who are members of the Tlingit tribe blessed the tree, which is decorated with thousands of ornaments made by community members in Alaska.

Social media users voted to name the tree “Spruce Wayne.”

Separately, the National Christmas Tree lighting is scheduled for Thursday.

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The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree is illuminated following the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the West Front of the Capitol, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in D.C. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lit For Holiday Season 2/7
The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree is lit during a ceremony with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and members of the Alaskan delegation on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 03, in D.C. This year’s tree is an 80-foot Sitka spruce from the Wrangell District Region in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, looks at Rose Burke as she recites her essay about the tree during the lighting ceremony of the US Capitol Christmas Tree on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on December 3, 2024. 3/7
Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, looks at Rose Burke as she recites her essay about the tree during the lighting ceremony of the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree on Capitol Hill in D.C., on Dec. 3, 2024. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
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U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), Rose Burke, a fourth-grade student from Kenai, Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) attend the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 3, in D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Members of the Tlingit tribe, a group of indigenous people from Alaska, bless the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree during a lighting ceremony on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 3, in D.C. This year’s tree is an 80-foot Sitka spruce from the Wrangell District Region in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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This year’s tree is an 80-foot Sitka spruce from the Wrangell District Region in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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John Schank, one of the two drivers that drove the Christmas tree from the Pacific Coast to the Western lawn of the U.S. Capitol building, takes a photograph of his nine-year-old grand niece, Amelia after the lights on the tree were turned on during a ceremony on Capitol Hill in D.C., on Dec. 3. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

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