The White House will install the Department of War as a “secondary name” to get around Trump’s inability to actually rename the agency.
Key Facts
Trump signed an order renaming the Defense agency on Friday, after repeatedly saying publicly that he thinks the name should be reverted to the “Department of War.”
The Defense Department was previously known as the “Department of War” until the 1940s, when the name was changed after World War II and the various departments of the military—the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force—were all consolidated into a single agency.
That name change was made by Congress, as lawmakers formally rebranded the agency as the Department of Defense in 1949 when they amended the National Security Act.
Because of that, it would take another act of Congress to formally change the name back to the Department of War, and Trump cannot do it unilaterally on his own through an executive order.
Despite Trump’s order on Friday, that means the name change won’t actually be official, with the White House saying in a fact sheet that they intend to make the Department of War name a “secondary title” for the agency.
Trump will also direct Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “recommend actions,” including acts of Congress, that would make the name change permanent.What Will Trump’s Executive Order Say?
The executive order will install the Department of War as a “secondary” name for the agency, and also direct Hegseth to now be known under a “secondary title” of the “Secretary of War,” according to a fact sheet the White House provided to Forbes. Though the name change won’t actually be official, Trump will still direct the “Department of War” name and officials’ secondary “war” titles to be used on all external and internal communications throughout the executive branch. The order will also instruct Hegseth to recommend moves that are “required to permanently rename the U.S. Department of Defense to the U.S. Department of War.”Why Did The Name Change To The Department Of Defense?
President George Washington initially established the Department of War back in 1789, though the agency historically only oversaw the Army, while other branches of the military were their own separate agencies.
