President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
Just before Trump signed the order in the Oval Office late Friday afternoon, he and Pete Hegseth, the secretary in charge of the department, who stood next to Trump during the signing, said the renaming reflected their intention to return to a more aggressive mindset for the military.
“It’s restoring, as you’ve guided us to, Mr. President, restoring the warrior ethos,” Hegseth said. “The War Department is going to fight decisively, not endless conflicts. It’s going to fight to win, not not to lose. We’re going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re going to raise up warriors, not just defenders.”
The text of the order calls “Secretary of War” a “secondary” title for Hegseth. “The Secretary of Defense is authorized the use of this additional secondary title — the Secretary of War — and may be recognized by that title in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts, and non-statutory documents within the executive branch,” reads the order.
The Department of War and the Department of the Navy were Cabinet departments from the nation’s founding until 1947, when Congress combined them, along with the Department of the Air Force, into a new National Military Establishment. Congress changed that name to the Defense Department two years later.
Trump said Friday that renaming 76 years ago revealed a “political correctness” in the military that contributed to poorer results on the battlefield. The U.S. has not won a major war since the reorganization, he said.
“We could have won every war, but we really chose to be very politically correct or wokey, and we just fight forever and then, we wouldn’t lose, really, we just fight to sort of tie,” he said. “We never wanted to win wars that every one of them we would have won easily with just a couple of little changes or a couple of little edicts.”
Because the department’s name came from an act of Congress, it’s unclear if Trump has the power to rename it with an executive order.
The president said Friday he didn’t know if it would be necessary for Congress to be involved, but that he would ask lawmakers to approve the change.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out,” he said when asked if Congress would codify the renaming. “But I’m not sure they have to … There’s a question as to whether or not they have to, but we’ll put it before Congress.”
Trump added that the cost of replacing signage and other materials associated with the department would be minimal.
The order says: “Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of War shall submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, a recommendation on the actions required to permanently change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. This recommendation shall include the proposed legislative and executive actions necessary to accomplish this renaming.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the chair of the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the department who has often clashed with Trump, including on defense spending, said on social media that the name change was not meaningful without greater financial investment.
“If we call it the Dept. of War, we’d better equip the military to actually prevent and win wars,” the former Senate Republican leader wrote. “Can’t preserve American primacy if we’re unwilling to spend substantially more on our military than Carter or Biden. ‘Peace through strength’ requires investment, not just rebranding.”
This story was originally published by Stateline.
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