The Pentagon is officially requesting to change its name from the Department of Defense to the Department of War — a rebrand that could cost millions of dollars and require thousands of edits to federal law.
The department sent a legislative proposal to lawmakers this week, asking Congress to codify into law the “War Department” name that was unofficially adopted by the Trump administration last year. Only an act of Congress can formally change the name of a federal department.
In its request, the department argued there would be no “significant impact” on future spending in President Donald Trump’s budget request for the next fiscal year, although final estimates on how much it would cost are not yet clear. The Pentagon has so far estimated $51 million has already been spent on the rebranding effort, but the Congressional Budget Office has projected a price tag of up to $125 million depending on how much more is updated.
That number is just a preliminary estimate, as the office says “the ultimate cost would depend heavily on the scope, pace, and specific implementation decisions made by Congress and the department.”
Additionally, the name change would require approximately 7,600 changes in reference in federal laws to adequately reflect the update.
The department justified the rebrand as a “fundamental reminder of the importance and reverence of our core mission, to fight and win wars,” according to the proposal. “It serves as a strategic objective in which to measure and prioritize all activities.”
The official request comes after Trump signed an executive order last September as a “secondary title” to be used in correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts and other documents. That executive order also established Pete Hegseth as the secretary of war rather than the defense secretary.
The latest request by the Pentagon would also establish that as Hegseth’s official title.
Since that order, a handful of lawmakers have introduced legislation to officially change the name, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who co-sponsored the Department of War Restoration Act in early September. However, that bill, and others like it, have not gained much traction.
Although the name change has never been approved by Congress, the administration has already replaced its website and social media accounts to reflect the new name.