House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on Thursday he isn’t opposed to renaming military installations. Other Republicans said they too were open to moving ahead with a process at the federal level to remove the old Confederate names.
Even so, those proposals, if enacted by both chambers, would require the signature of President Trump — which may not be forthcoming.
The White House dug in this week on standing by the current names of a number of Army bases named for Confederate commanders, including Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Confederate army, Braxton Bragg and others.
Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that he considered the door closed to renaming military installations — after Defense Secretary Mark Esper had appeared to open it — and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany reiterated Wednesday that the administration believes the names should stay.
