Senate Democrats demand cost estimate for Department of War renaming
By SVETLANA SHKOLNIKOVA STARS AND STRIPES •
A group of Senate Democrats is calling for a formal cost assessment of President Donald Trump’s directive to give the Department of Defense a secondary title of the Department of War. Ten senators have asked the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to come up with a price tag for adopting the new name, including the cost of changing signage, stationery and other department materials. Trump’s directive “risks confusion, redundancy, and unnecessary cost expenditure” and contradicts the administration’s focus on minimizing federal spending, the senators argued in a letter sent Monday to Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel. “Given the Trump administration’s repeated emphasis on fiscal restraint … this symbolic renaming is both wasteful and hypocritical,” the senators wrote. “It appears to prioritize political theater over responsible governance, while diverting resources from core national security functions.”
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https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2025-09-23/senate-democrats-cost-war-department-renaming-19196196.htmlSource - Stars and Stripes
