Kayleigh McEnany: "President Trump will ALWAYS stand with our heroic military men and women" of the Confederacy.

Congress Heads Toward Clash With Trump Over Removal Of Confederate Symbols

Members of Congress put themselves on a collision course with the White House on Thursday over the politics of America's Confederate legacy.

The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment that would create a commission charged with renaming Army installations that bear Confederate names and removing their Confederate symbols.

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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.

The amendment about the Confederate base names adopted by the Senate committee on Thursday was offered by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat. 

It's part of a massive annual bill that sets policy for the military — one that, because of its size and importance, passes nearly every year.

Supporters hope the importance of the overall bill means that if the amendment is still in place when it reaches Trump, he'll overlook his objections and sign it into law.

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Trump and Republicans have said they want to go along with prospective legislation that could reform police practices around the United States, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is working on a bill now.

The president has drawn the line on the Confederate names, however. 

And at least one senator — Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., whose panel adopted the amendment calling for a renaming commission — said he thought individual states should be involved.

This is just a first step in the process, he said, and "we have a long ways to go."

"I think that we should have state input in this thing ... and I think it will be ... by the time we get to conference and everything else," Inhofe told reporters. 

"Let states determine if they want to rename things in their state."

The Army bases are federal installations run by the Defense Department.