The Trump administration’s push to rebrand the Pentagon as the “Department of War” could cost anywhere from $10 million to as much as $125 million, according to a new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO warns that a full, legally binding name change approved by Congress could ultimately push the price even higher — potentially into the hundreds of millions.
The estimate lands squarely in the middle of a political fight over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to bring back the “Department of War” name, a move President Donald Trump already directed executive branch agencies to adopt in practice — even without congressional approval.
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The War Department was created in 1789 and abolished by the National Security Act of 1947, which reorganized the military under the Defense Department in 1949.
Trump issued the order last September, arguing that “Defense” was too politically correct and that the older name simply “sounded better.”
Congress has not passed legislation to make the change official, and the most recent defense bill avoided the issue altogether. Still, Democrats who requested the CBO review say the cost alone should give lawmakers pause.
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.”
Most news organizations, including Straight Arrow News, have decided to refer to the Pentagon as the Department of Defense, the name the agency has held since 1949, unless Congress officially renames it.
The debate also follows a years-long, congressionally mandated effort to remove Confederate names from military bases and other assets, a process the CBO notes ultimately cost about $62.5 million.
How CBO reached its estimate
In a Jan.14 letter to Senate leaders, CBO Director Phillip Swagel said a “modest implementation” of Trump’s Executive Order 1434, focused mainly on the Office of the Secretary of Defense, would likely cost about $10 million.
But costs rise quickly if the name change spreads more broadly across the department.
The CBO estimates expenses could reach $125 million if “Department of War” is rolled out across defense-wide agencies, triggering widespread updates to signage, seals, and official branding.
The estimate remains imprecise, in part because the Defense Department “declined to provide information” on how it is implementing the order or how much it has already spent, CBO wrote. The only internal data the budget office received was a 30-day report from the Pentagon comptroller listing $1.9 million spent on updates to training materials, ID badges and ceremonial items like flags — a figure the budget office says likely understates both past and future costs.
The name is already showing up
While Trump’s executive order does not legally change the Pentagon’s name, it authorizes “Department of War” as a parallel designation unless Congress intervenes.
Implementation is already visible. The CBO notes that Air Force leadership instructed units to update their letterhead with the new seal. And earlier this fall, the Pentagon released a photo of Hegseth installing a bronze “Department of War” plaque at a main entrance, saying he wanted visitors to know the department was “deadly serious about the name change.”
