House Dems announce vote to remove Confederate statues, fail to mention 9 of 11 honor Democrats

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the House is voting Wednesday on legislation that would remove Confederate statues — nine of which commemorate members of the Democratic Party — from the Capitol, as well as a bust of a Supreme Court justice, who was a registered Democrat.

House Democratic leaders held a press conference about the legislation and the history of the Confederacy on Wednesday but did not mention the party affiliation of the individuals that the statues and the bust honor.

The statues that would be removed from the Capitol Building include Edmund Kirby Smith and Robert E. Lee, who did not have a documented political affiliation, according to historical accounts. Lee reportedly joined Democrats in opposition to Republicans who "demanded punitive measures against the South" during Reconstruction. The rest of the Confederates that the statues honor were Democrats.