House Republicans pull back on spending bills amid concerns on Confederate flag

Associated Press
July 10, 2015 | 7:02 p.m. EDT

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The dispute in Congress over the Confederate flag threatened Friday to upend House Republican plans to move forward on routine spending legislation, amid concerns that Democrats could hijack the bills to debate the flag.

House Republican aides said a bill covering general government operations tentatively set for consideration next week would not be considered after all. That followed an embarrassing incident Thursday: Republicans had to pull a different bill when conservative Southern members revolted against a last-minute amendment to block display of the flag at federal cemeteries.

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House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, issued a congratulatory statement to South Carolina officials for removing the flag. And in an interview taped Friday for airing Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," he said "the flag should be gone" from national cemeteries.

Boehner's comments came even as his own leadership team was debating how to deal with the spending bills pending in the House. Passing them to fund annual government operations is Congress' most basic responsibility, yet any one of them could become a vehicle for Democratic mischief.

And Democrats made clear they had no plans to let up.

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