The Defense Department could officially be rebranded as the Department of War thanks to a measure tucked into a must-pass spending bill making its way through Congress.
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the annual defense policy bill during closed-door deliberations on Wednesday evening, which outlines the budget for the DOD in the upcoming fiscal year. But included in the National Defense Authorization Act is language to codify President Donald Trump’s desire to change the department’s name to the War Department — a moniker he adopted last year but has not been approved by Congress.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the top Democrat on the committee, announced the provision on Thursday while explaining why he voted against the typically bipartisan package. The bill advanced through the committee in an 18-9 vote.
“It’s 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,” Kaine said in a statement.
The House Armed Services Committee similarly approved the rebranding in its version of the defense spending bill earlier this month, making it more likely it will survive in the final iteration of the package later this summer.
Trump announced the name change last year, and it was quickly adopted by the Pentagon as well as congressional Republicans. However, the name must be approved by Congress to officially take effect.
The Pentagon officially submitted a request to Congress earlier this year for the rebranding, and top officials in the Trump administration have been pushing for the change. Attaching it to a piece of must-pass legislation increases the likelihood of its passage.
“The Department of War will officially be restored soon,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post.
The rebranding will not come without a financial cost. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated it could cost up to $125 million to rename the department and update all the building facades and communications. 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.”