House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) called Thursday for an informal bipartisan group to review matters related to Confederate memorabilia in the U.S. Capitol, cutting off an unexpected, racially tinged debate over the “Stars and Bars” that had consumed the House floor.
Boehner sidelined legislation that would provide annual funds for the Interior Department after Southern lawmakers pushed to get a vote that would allow for brief displays and sales of the flag in veterans cemeteries and national parks.
That vote, which would have come Thursday afternoon — just as South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is set to sign legislation removing the controversial flag from that state’s Capitol — seemed destined to fail, but it was already inflaming tensions on Capitol Hill.
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