[Discussion] Pentagon Seeks to Officially Rename DoD the Department of War, $51.5M Estimated Cost

[Uncrowned Guard]

Proposal submitted for FY27 defense bill

The Pentagon has asked Congress to formally rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War through a legislative proposal tied to debate over the fiscal 2027 defense policy bill. The request would change the department’s legal name, which remains fixed in statute unless Congress acts.

Department officials said the revision would reinforce what they described as the department’s core mission: fighting and winning wars. The proposal argues that the new designation would serve as a benchmark for prioritizing activities across the organization.

Pentagon says FY27 effect is limited, but FY26 costs are estimated at $51.5 million

In the proposal, the Pentagon said the name change would have “no significant impact” on the FY27 budget. It also stated, however, that implementation across the department is expected to cost about $51.5 million in FY26.

Of that total, roughly $44.6 million would be spent within defense agencies and Department of Defense field activities. The department said it has tried to limit costs by using existing resources, exhausting current stocks before replacing letterhead and similar materials, and updating signage through combined purchases. It added that actual costs incurred during the transition to the “Department of War” nomenclature are still being collected.

Executive order allowed a secondary title, not a legal renaming

The legislative push follows Executive Order 14347, signed by President Donald Trump on Sept. 5, 2025, which authorized “Department of War” as a secondary title for the Department of Defense. The order did not change the department’s legal name.

According to a Jan. 14, 2026, Congressional Budget Office letter sent to Sen. Jeff Merkley and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, the executive order required the Pentagon to notify the president within 30 days about offices using the secondary title and to recommend within 60 days what executive and legislative actions would be needed to make the change official. CBO said those notifications had not been sent to Congress.

CBO projects a wide range of implementation costs

CBO estimated that a modest implementation focused mainly on the Office of the Secretary of Defense could cost about $10 million. If the change were applied broadly and rapidly throughout the department, CBO said costs could reach $125 million. For a full statutory renaming, the office said expenses could rise into the hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on how Congress and the Pentagon choose to carry it out.

CBO said its estimate was constrained because the Pentagon declined to provide details on the scope, speed, and cost of its implementation plan. The budget office cited one comptroller report showing $1.9 million spent by five OSD organizations over 30 days on items including flags, plaques, identification badges, and updated training materials, but said that figure likely understates total costs.

Cost drivers extend beyond headquarters

Using comparisons to earlier Army base renamings, CBO outlined several scenarios. An OSD-only change could cost about $842,000 under a per-person model or about $9.9 million under a per-organization model. Extending the change to selected defense-wide agencies would raise those totals to about $24.8 million or $43.4 million, respectively.

The office noted that a formal renaming would also require updates to regulations, directives, doctrine, websites, contract templates, and signage. It added that nonfederal costs are also possible. North Carolina, for example, spent nearly $200,000 updating highway signs when Fort Bragg was renamed Fort Liberty, and then spent a similar amount when the name was changed back.

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