South Carolina Senate Votes to Take Down Confederate Flag

The push to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse is about to clear its first hurdle

Hundreds of people gather for a protest rally against the Confederate flag in Columbia, South Carolina.Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images

COLUMBIA, S.C.—The push to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse is about to clear its first hurdle.

But even if a bill to bring down the rebel banner passes the state Senate as expected Tuesday, it faces a less certain future in the House.

Senators voted 37-3 on Monday to take down the flag and the pole it flies on, both of which were erected in 2000 as part of a compromise that involved removing the flag from atop the Statehouse dome. The vote was well over the two-thirds majority that will be needed Tuesday to send the bill on to the House.

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