South Carolina Senate

SC Senate gives final OK to Confederate flag removal

But across the hall in the House, Republicans quietly sought a way to make a last stand to preserve some kind of symbol honoring their Southern ancestors at the Statehouse.

The House was scheduled to begin debate Wednesday on the bill to take down the flag and its pole and send the banner to the state's Confederate Relic Room. Gov. Nikki Haley and business leaders support the proposal.

SC Senate votes to take down flag; House OK still needed

A second vote will be needed Tuesday to send the proposal to the House, where it faces a less certain future. But Monday's 37-3 vote was well over the two-thirds majority needed to advance the bill.

If the House passes the same measure, the flag and flagpole could be removed as soon as Gov. Nikki Haley signs the papers. The flag would be lowered for the last time and shipped off to the state's Confederate Relic Room, near where the last Confederate flag to fly over the Statehouse dome is stored.