Congressional Republicans are moving forward with the Department of War name change efforts. The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to rename the Department of Defense. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has long preferred the new moniker.
GOP lawmakers vote in favor of Department of War name change
This week, Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to formally change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. The panel included the language for the official rebrand in the committee’s closed-door deliberations over its fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
On Thursday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) announced the name change provision in an official statement, where he explained his opposition to the bill. Referring to the ongoing war in Iran, he stated, “Rather than taking steps to end this deeply unpopular war, this bill rebrands the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a juvenile move that sadly describes the reality of a president who has abandoned meaningful diplomacy in favor of starting doubtful wars in multiple locations and threatening even more.”
The committee approved the legislation with an 18-9 vote on Wednesday evening, with the bill’s first details emerging the following day. Trump had previously approved the War Department title last September by signing an executive order (via The Hill). Although the Pentagon has since used the moniker, it must be signed off on by Congress to change it formally.
Rep. Ronny Jackson backed the name change on Thursday. He said, “Now that you can see firsthand how beautiful it actually is, you will have no choice,” but to vote for the rebrand.
The federal agency, first established by George Washington in 1789, was originally named the Department of War. In 1949, it was renamed the Department of Defense under President Harry Truman. Trump had long made efforts to reestablish its original moniker.
“Defense is a part of that,” Trump said last year. He added, “But I have a feeling we’re going to be changing. Everybody likes that. We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War” (via The Hill).
Originally reported by Namrata Ghosh on Mandatory.
