White House planning rebranding of defence dept: Reports

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is advancing plans to rename the department of defence as the department of war , the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a White House official, after President Donald Trump raised the prospect on Monday. Restoring the department of war name for the govt’s largest department would likely require congressional action, but the White House is exploring alternative methods to implement the change, the report said.

Republican Representative Greg Steube of Florida filed an amendment to the annual defence policy bill that would change the name of the department, indicating some Republican support in Congress for the change.

The White House gave no details. “As President Trump said, our military should be focused on offence – not just defence – which is why he has prioritized warfighters at the Pentagon instead of DEI and woke ideology. Stay tuned!” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
Trump raised the idea of rebranding while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, saying it “just sounded to me better.” “It used to be called the department of war and it had a stronger sound,” Trump said.

The war department became the department of defence through a gradual process, beginning with the National Security Act of 1947, which unified the Army, Navy, and Air Force under a single organization called the National Military Establishment. An amendment to the law passed in 1949 officially introduced the name “department of defence.”

(Taken from Reuters)