‘Department of War’: Sen. Lee and Rep. Steube To Introduce Bill Renaming DoD

President Trump asked, and now Congress will answer: Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Florida Rep. Greg Steube will soon introduce legislation to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, RealClearPolitics is first to report.

The latest (proposed) iteration of the Department of War

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of restoring the original branding of the federal government’s largest department. “I like Department of War better,” he said last week during a cabinet meeting. And to the president, it is more than just a name.

“As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything,” Trump explained during a sit-down in the Oval Office with Lee Jae Myung, the new president of South Korea. “We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War,” he said of the name used from the nation’s founding until 1947. “Then we changed it to Department of Defense.”

“Between us,” Trump said to the Korean leader and assembled members of the press, “I think we’re going to change the name.” Congressional Republicans were listening.

“For the first 150 years of our Armed Forces’ history through WWII, Americans defeated their enemies and protected their country under the War Department,” Lee told RCP. “I’m proud to introduce the Department of War Restoration Act to make President Trump’s return to tradition permanent in federal law.”

The White House was reportedly exploring avenues to change the name unilaterally, but a revision would require an act of Congress to make it official. Hence, the proposed legislation.

Steube, a retired Army captain, told RCP:

From 1789 until the end of World War II, the United States military fought under the banner of the Department of War. Thanks to their courage and sacrifice, the standard of excellence was established for all servicemembers who followed in their footsteps. It is only fitting that we pay tribute to their eternal example and renowned commitment to lethality by restoring the name of the “Department of War” to our Armed Forces.

A simple renaming

A draft of the Lee-Steube legislation reviewed by RCP would simply restore the old name and update Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s title. If the bill passes, henceforth, he would be designated “Secretary of War,” becoming the first man to hold that position since U.S. Army General Kenneth Claiborne Royall during the Truman administration.

President George Washington first created the department in 1789, but in the aftermath of World War II, a rebrand and reorganization were needed for the modern era. At the time, the Department of War oversaw the Army. The Department of the Navy directed naval forces and the Marines. Both had their respective secretaries and enjoyed seats in the president’s cabinet until the National Security Act of 1947.

That law merged the Department of the Army with the Department of the Navy and birthed a separate branch, the Department of the Air Force, while placing them all under the civilian control of the newly formed “secretary of defense.” Things continued this way for more than half a century through both Republican and Democratic presidencies and numerous wars. Then Trump.

He has already remodeled the federal government both figuratively and literally since returning to the White House, slashing some government agencies and cutting others entirely. At the president’s direction, Hegseth has instituted sweeping reforms to the military. He has ended so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and launched an overhaul of the military to create a leaner, more lethal force.

Now, the proposed name change.

George Washington wanted America to win

“Here’s what people miss: It’s not just about words. It’s about the warrior ethos. It’s about what the department is supposed to do,” Hegseth said at the last cabinet meeting. He noted the place card in front of him included his current title and said he hoped for the older, more austere one. “George Washington started the Department of War because he wanted us to win our wars.”

When some on the right survey the postwar period, they see decadence in spending and malaise as a result. The Pentagon now enjoys a nearly $1 trillion budget, they complain, but the results have been middling as that department has become too concerned with politics rather than the business of winning battles. After the Global War on Terror, an epoch punctuated by the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Biden, a reckoning is in order.

An energetic executive, Trump has toyed with the idea of doing a name change by fiat. At the conclusion of a NATO meeting in the Netherlands earlier in the summer, he introduced Hegseth as “secretary of war.” When asked last week about how he planned to make the new verbiage stick, he replied, “We’re just going to do it,” before adding, “I’m sure Congress will go along if we need.”

Lee and Steube are expected to introduce their legislation on Tuesday afternoon.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.