The Department of Defense moved one step closer to becoming the Department of War again after the Senate Armed Services Committee approved legislation to formally change the name.
The agency was known as the War Department until Congress created the Department of Defense in the aftermath of World War II.
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President Donald Trump began using the War Department moniker last year in official communications and briefings, but the change was never formally adopted.
As a result, news organizations, including Straight Arrow, have continued using the Department of Defense, the agency’s legal name since 1949.
Congress is now moving to make the rebranding permanent.
Armed services vote
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 18-9 Wednesday night to advance legislation that would permanently rename the Defense Department. The vote largely followed party lines, according to Politico.
Lawmakers added the renaming language to the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, a move that Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called “juvenile.”
“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,” Kaine said.
The House Armed Services Committee approved similar language last week, drawing praise from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“The Department of War will officially be restored soon,” Hegseth wrote on X.
Officially changing the name
The proposal still must clear the full House and Senate. But because it is attached to the annual defense authorization bill — legislation Congress has approved every year for the last 60 years — supporters have a clear path forward.
Should Congress approve the bill, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated a full renaming would cost the department as much as $125 million.
The proposal remains divisive,with critics arguing the military’s mission extends well beyond warfare.
When initially announced, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., called the rebranding a “vanity” project, arguing it ignores more urgent economic priorities and “does nothing to advance the national security or help service members and their families.”
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