A new bill introduced by Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) codifies President Trump’s order to restore the Department of Defense to its original name, the Department of War. A companion bill has been introduced in the House by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL).
The Senate bill declares that the “Department of Defense is hereby redesignated the Department of War.” It adds that any reference to the “Department of Defense or the Secretary of Defense in any law, rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered to refer and apply to the Department of War and the Secretary of War, respectively.”
“The United States military is not a purely defensive force. We are the most lethal fighting force on the face of the planet — ready to defeat any enemy when called upon,” Scott said. “Restoring the name to Department of War reflects our true purpose: to dominate wars, not merely respond after being provoked. President Trump has made it clear that our nation will pursue Peace Through Strength — and we will always stand ready to defend our freedoms.”
According to a report from Fox News, implementing the order will require changes to signage and websites, such as renaming the public affairs briefing room to the “Pentagon War Annex.”
President Trump informed reporters of the desired name change last week.
“Why are we ‘Defense?’ So it used to be called the Department of War, and it had a stronger sound,” he told reporters from the Oval Office. “As you know, we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything, and now we have a Department of Defense.”
“If you people want to, standing behind me, if you take a little vote, if you want to change it back to what it was when we used to win wars all the time, that’s OK with me. All right?” Trump said.
“I don’t want to be defense only,” Trump added. “We want defense, but we want offense too.”
