The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday rejected an effort to restore a Confederate monument to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia by a 230-192 vote.
Twenty-four Republicans, including two of the four Black House Republicans, joined all present Democrats to vote down an amendment from Rep. Andrew Clyde that would have restored the Confederate memorial to one of the country’s major military cemeteries. The Georgia Republican introduced the amendment to the House’s $883 billion defense programs and policy bill for the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.
The monument, first constructed in 1914 and removed in 2023, depicts a Black woman tending to the child of a Confederate soldier. Its relocation was recommended by a Department of Defense commission, which began in 2021 in the wake of the 2020 racial justice protests and has also been responsible for renaming formerly Confederate-named military bases. With the vote’s failure, the monument is set to be moved to a nearby historical park.
