President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14347 on September 5, 2025, authorizing the Department of Defense to use “Department of War†as a secondary title. The order also allows Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use “Secretary of War†in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial settings and other non-statutory contexts.
The distinction is legally important. Trump’s order did not itself repeal the statutes naming the Department of Defense. The order explicitly states that statutory references to the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense and subordinate offices remain controlling unless Congress changes the law.
The administration nevertheless moved quickly to adopt the secondary branding. Pentagon websites and public communications began using the Department of War name, and Defense.gov was redirected to War.gov. The department has continued using the new branding while its statutory identity remains governed by federal law.
What Trump's Executive Order Actually Changed
Executive Order 14347 permits the Department of Defense, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and subordinate officials to use corresponding Department of War titles in specified executive-branch contexts. It also directs other federal agencies to recognize those secondary titles as long as their use does not create confusion about legal, statutory or international obligations.
The order further instructed Hegseth to recommend the legislative and executive steps needed for a permanent name change. That provision acknowledged a central constraint: changing the department’s legal name requires changes to federal statutes rather than presidential branding alone.
The Pentagon itself described the action at the time as a change to a “secondary title,†while the White House said the administration would pursue congressional action for a permanent renaming.
Why Congress Still Matters
The Department of Defense is established and named throughout federal law, including Title 10 of the U.S. Code. A complete legal conversion to a Department of War therefore involves Congress because numerous statutes refer specifically to the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense and related offices.
That is different from the president directing executive agencies to use an additional name in communications. The executive order can govern terminology within the executive branch to the extent permitted by law, but it cannot by itself rewrite thousands of statutory references enacted by Congress.
By 2026, the Pentagon had taken a further step and sent Congress a legislative proposal seeking to codify the Department of War name. Reporting on the proposal indicated that roughly 7,600 conforming changes to federal law could be necessary if Congress approved the permanent renaming.
The Historical Record: War Department, National Military Establishment and Defense Department
The original War Department dates to 1789. It was responsible primarily for the Army and played a central role in U.S. military administration through conflicts including the Civil War and both world wars.
The post-World War II reorganization occurred in two major steps. The National Security Act of 1947 created the National Military Establishment, bringing the War Department, Navy Department and newly independent Air Force into a unified national-security structure. The War Department became the Department of the Army rather than simply being renamed the Department of Defense.
In 1949, amendments to the National Security Act renamed the National Military Establishment as the Department of Defense and strengthened the authority of the secretary overseeing the military departments. That statutory structure is the foundation of the modern Pentagon.
Trump argued in his 2025 order that the older “Department of War†terminology communicates military strength and a willingness to win wars. That rationale is the administration’s stated policy position, rather than a historical finding about the effectiveness of either name.
How Much Could the Rebranding Cost?
When the executive order was issued in September 2025, no official government estimate supported early suggestions that the rebranding could necessarily cost $1 billion or more. The eventual federal estimate was substantially lower, although the cost depends heavily on how extensively the new name is implemented.
In January 2026, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that a modest implementation concentrated largely within the Office of the Secretary of Defense would cost about $10 million. A minimal phased approach could cost only a few million dollars, while a broad and rapid implementation across the department could reach approximately $125 million.
CBO said a statutory renaming approved by Congress could cost “hundreds of millions of dollars,†depending on the scope and speed of implementation. Expenses could include staff time, document templates, websites, software systems, letterhead, signs, ceremonial materials and other items bearing the department’s name.
CBO emphasized that its estimates were uncertain because the department had not supplied the office with a detailed implementation plan. Costs would also depend on whether existing materials were replaced immediately or changed gradually as inventories were exhausted and systems were otherwise updated.
Later Context: Pentagon Puts Its Own Cost Near $50 Million
Later developments provided a clearer picture of the expense. In April 2026, as the Pentagon sought congressional approval to make the new name statutory, its legislative proposal estimated that the renaming effort had cost about $50 million to that point.
That later figure does not mean every possible future cost was included. A permanent statutory change could trigger additional revisions throughout federal law and across a department with a global network of commands, installations, websites, publications and administrative systems.
The available evidence therefore does not support describing the initiative as a confirmed billion-dollar rebranding. The more defensible picture is a secondary-title implementation costing tens of millions of dollars, with CBO estimating a range up to $125 million for broad rapid adoption and potentially hundreds of millions if Congress eventually requires a comprehensive statutory conversion.
Branding Has Changed Faster Than the Law
The most visible effects of Trump's order appeared quickly. Department websites, seals, public-affairs materials and leadership titles increasingly adopted Department of War terminology. The Pentagon's current branding guidance describes “Department of War†as the secondary title authorized by Executive Order 14347.
That creates an unusual situation in which the department publicly presents itself under the War Department brand while federal statutes continue to contain Department of Defense terminology. The executive order anticipated that distinction by explicitly preserving statutory references until Congress changes them.
What Remains Unresolved
The central unresolved question is whether Congress will enact a permanent legal renaming and, if so, how broadly lawmakers will require federal agencies and military components to replace existing Defense Department terminology.
Until statutory changes are enacted, the distinction between branding and legal identity remains important. Trump’s executive order established Department of War as an authorized secondary title and directed the administration to pursue a permanent change, but the statutes governing the department remain controlling where the law specifically refers to the Department of Defense.
The episode therefore involves more than changing signs at the Pentagon. It raises practical questions about how executive-branch branding interacts with statutory language, how much a government-wide renaming should cost, and how Congress chooses to exercise its legislative authority over the structure and official designation of the nation's military department.
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