The House Appropriations Committee advanced its $1.1 trillion defense spending bill for fiscal year 2027 on Wednesday, voting along party lines 34-27 to send the legislation forward with a provision that would officially rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
The bill marks the third legislative vehicle to include language rebranding the Pentagon. Both the House and Senate Armed Services committees embedded similar provisions in their defense authorization bills earlier this year.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) sponsored the rename provision and defended it during committee debate.
“The best defense is a good offense. And names communicate priorities,” Clyde said. “The historic title ‘Department of War’ more directly reflects the warrior ethos.”
President Trump signed an executive order in September authorizing the name change, directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to take on the title of “Secretary of War.” The Pentagon has already updated its website and social media accounts to reflect the switch.
Beyond the name change, the spending bill contains provisions blocking Pentagon funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, cutting off reimbursements for service members who travel across state lines to obtain abortions, and ending payment for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapies for transgender military personnel.
Republicans voted down every Democratic amendment offered during the nearly eight-hour committee markup. Rejected proposals included measures to limit U.S. troop withdrawals from Europe, block Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and compel Hegseth to provide written justification for his decisions to delay or withhold promotions for certain senior officers.
Democrats argued the name change itself carries a steep price tag. The Congressional Budget Office completed a study in January estimating the cost of the rebranding at approximately $125 million.
“What programs or activities did the secretary short circuit in order to cover the cost of this name change?” asked Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), the ranking member on the committee’s defense subpanel.
McCollum invoked the history behind the current name. “The Americans who settled on the Department of Defense in 1947, they knew what they were talking about. They knew we should want to deter war, not advertise we want war.”
The Department of War was originally established in 1789 under President George Washington. The Truman administration renamed it in 1947 when Congress consolidated the Army, Navy, and newly independent Air Force under a single civilian command structure.
The $1.1 trillion bill is a response to Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget request for fiscal year 2027. A final version of the spending legislation must clear both chambers and receive presidential signature before becoming law.
