Congress Backs 2026 Defense Bill to Restore Department of War Name

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 26

House lawmakers and the Senate Armed Services Committee have both backed putting the "Department of War" name into the 2026 defense bill, moving the change beyond President Donald Trump's executive order.
The push aims to lock the name into law rather than leave it to executive action, with supporters arguing it states the military's core mission more clearly: to fight and win wars.
Backers frame the move as a restoration of the original War Department, created in 1789 and renamed under the 1947 National Security Act before becoming the Department of Defense in 1949.
The measure now hinges on whether lawmakers keep the provision in the final defense bill and send it to Trump's desk, making a symbolic but durable change to the Pentagon's legal identity.