Trump’s ‘Department of War’ Looking Increasingly Unlikely to Become Official — Because of Republicans

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Donald Trump’s plan to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War is facing major roadblocks from members of his own party.

The proposed name change has been controversial, both for the multi-billion dollar expense and the massive administrative undertaking redesigning and relabeling official seals, uniforms, stationery, logos, signage, insignia, and other graphics throughout the more than 700,000 DOD facilities throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Last week, Trump signed an executive order to change the name of the DOD to the Department of War, the original name for the Cabinet department when the U.S. Constitution came into effect. The National Security Act of 1947 had renamed the Department of War the Department of the Army, and merged it with the Department of the Navy and the Department of the Air Force under the auspices of the National Military Establishment (NME). Two years later, in 1949, the NME was renamed the DOD.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been a vocal supporter of the change, and swiftly changed the department’s websites and social media accounts to say “Department of War” and his own title as “Secretary of War.” The White House and other Trump administration officials have made similar changes in their public communications.

However, to actually officially change the name of this Cabinet department, Congress has to pass legislation — and there don’t seem to be enough congressional Republicans on board to make it happen.

On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee — controlled by Republicans since there is a GOP majority in the House — rejected an amendment filed by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) that would have codified the name change into law, declining to include that language in the version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 that will move forward for debate and votes. The NDAA is the budget and expenditures bill passed by Congress each year since 1961, and was a logical vehicle for a name change as it would incur enormous expenses to make it effective.

Even if the NDAA is later amended, perhaps during next year’s iteration, it would still have to pass the Senate, and at least one Republican Senator has already vowed to oppose it.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju that he thought changing the name to the Department of War “sends a bad signal to the world,” explaining that “glorifying war” was “not something I’m in favor of” because we were living “in a world with nuclear weapons.”

Paul vowed he would “lead opposition” to the name change if a bill came before the Senate. The Kentucky senator seems likely to balk at not just the messaging of the name change, but the multibillion dollar price tag, as he is a habitual critic of government overreach and wasteful spending.

Republicans have a narrow majority in the Senate, currently holding 53 seats. Democrats plus the two independents who caucus with the Democrats hold a total of 47, and are all expected to oppose the Department of War name change. That means with Paul’s opposition, and Vice President JD Vance with a tiebreaker vote that would presumably go the president’s way, opposition from only four Republican senators would be enough to block a bill from passing — not to mention all the potential filibusters, cloture votes, and other Senate procedural maneuvers that can leave a bill dying on the vine before it even gets to a floor vote.

Further complicating the GOP’s majority are the senate seats up for election in 2026, including a now-open seat in North Carolina after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) announced he was not running for re-election.