US President Donald Trump’s push to rename the Pentagon as the War Department won a victory late Thursday when Republicans on the executive committee voted to make the change permanent.
The House Armed Services Committee voted briefly along party lines to coordinate the Defense Department name, which Trump began last fall, during a marathon debate on his annual defense policy bill.
The surprising display of unanimity from defense hawks injects another controversial issue into the must-pass defense bill as Republican leaders aim to push a $1 trillion bill through Congress later this month during the war on Iran.
In one of its last votes, the Armed Services Committeeapproved the amendmentfrom Representative Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a staunch Trump ally, to officially approve the name change.
Trumpsigned the executive order last Septemberauthorizing the use of the War Department instead of the Defense Department. A move back to the top bureaucracy last held in the 1940s shows a strong military that is fighting and winning wars with certainty, according to president and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
Jackson similarly said that changing the name permanently to the War Department “shows the resolve and determination” of the military.
“Reinstating the name War Department sends an unmistakable signal to the world,” Jackson said. “Deterrence only works when adversaries believe America is willing to fight and win to secure its interests.”
Although most Republicans have accepted the term proposed by Trump and Hegseth to replace the secretary of war, the Pentagon’s legal name remains the Department of Defense until Congress signs off on making the change permanent. The proposal must also pass the Senate, but is likely to face opposition there because of the need for Democratic votes to advance legislation.
Senate Armed Services Democrat Adam Smith of Washington derided the proposal as “one of the dumbest things this administration has ever done.”
“It’s absurd at a time when we have so many fundamental arguments,” Smith said.
Opponents of the measure have also argued that it would waste money. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that a full name change could cost as much as $125 million.
Hegseth thanked Jackson following the vote, writingin a social media postearly Friday: “The War Department will be officially restored soon.”
The broader National Defense Authorization Act, which now carries a renaming provision, cleared the Armed Services Committee in a bipartisan 44-12 vote. But a dozen Democrats opposed the bill, marking the panel’s most partisan vote on the legislation in years.
Democrats largely opposed the Pentagon bill over its $1 trillion price tag, which they called excessive and extravagant, and the lack of meaningful ways to deal with the nearly 100-day war with Iran.
The vote to approve Trump’s new War Department structure, while not necessarily a decision, was for Democratic opponents another act of political loyalty to Republicans.
“It’s a ridiculous act,” said Rep. Pat Ryan (DN.Y.), one of dozens of Democrats who opposed the bill on Iran and a bigger defense budget. “I think ending up on that acting letter summed up the whole situation.”
