‘The Palestinian Flag Should Not Have a Place Here’: House Republican Introduces Amendment Barring Non-U.S. Flags In Congress

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) was so outraged by Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (R-MI) continued display of the flag of Palestine outside her office, that he introduced a measure to ban such flags from the halls of Congress.

On Monday, reporter Reese Gorman of the Washington Examiner snapped a photo of the flag outside Tlaib’s office and posted it on X/Twitter with an accompanying article about it.

“Rep. Rashida Tlaib still has a Palestinian flag hanging outside her House Office amid Hamas’ invasion of Israel,” he tweeted of the Palestinian-American lawmaker, as if to suggest it was incumbent upon her to remove it after Hamas carried out terrorist attacks against Israel over the weekend. Hamas has its own flag, which is distinct from the Palestinian one outside Tlaib’s office.

Hamas launched a series of coordinated attacks in Israel this weekend, killing more than 900 people and kidnapping more than 100. In response Israel declared it will lay “siege” to Gaza, a Palestinian territory that Hamas controls. Israel has already conducted several bombings in Gaza.

Citing Gorman’s tweet, Miller posted a screenshot of an amendment he is sponsoring.

“The halls of Congress belong to America,” he wrote. “They should be reserved for flags that embody our great nation. The Palestinian flag should not have a place here. That’s why I sponsored an appropriations amendment to end this silliness.”

Miller’s amendment stipulates, “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to acquire or display any flag or pennant other than the flag of the United States, the flag or pennant of any State or territory or possession of the United States, or the POW-MIA flag.”

While Miller stated his amendment is meant to thwart displays of Palestinian and other non-U.S. flags, it is unclear if the measure would preclude the private subsidization of such displays.