President Donald Trump’s directive to formally rename the Department of Defense as the “Department of War” could carry a price tag approaching $2 billion, a staggering cost that is already raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill as lawmakers weigh whether to approve the change.

The proposal, which requires congressional authorization, would trigger a sweeping overhaul of military signage, branding, digital infrastructure, and government communications across the globe. Senior Republican and Democratic congressional staffers said that the largest expenses stem from rewriting code for Pentagon websites and software, as well as replacing thousands of signs and official materials worldwide.

One estimate puts signage and letterhead changes alone at roughly $1 billion.

“It’s enormous,” one senior Democratic aide said. “This is not a small rebranding exercise — it touches everything across the U.S. military.”

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended the directive, saying the administration is following Trump’s order to make the name permanent.

“A final cost estimate has not been determined,” Parnell said, blaming delays on furloughs during the ongoing government shutdown. He said the change reflects the department’s “core mission: winning wars.”

The White House referred all cost questions back to the Pentagon.

Trump formally announced the rebranding during a Veterans Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, arguing that “Department of War” better aligns with U.S. military strength and the department’s original name. The department carried that title until the late 1940s, when Congress reorganized the military under the National Military Establishment and later the Department of Defense.

Republican Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.) and Mike Lee (Utah) and Rep. Greg Steube (Fla.) have introduced legislation to enact the formal name change, arguing the new title signals U.S. “dominance” and readiness.

But the administration has not made a concerted push to advance the bills, and support on Capitol Hill is mixed at best.

Some GOP lawmakers privately balk at the effort, which they view as an unnecessary and expensive symbolic project, according to two senior Republican staffers. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been publicly critical, warning the name risks glorifying war and vowing to oppose it.

Democrats have shown little interest in taking up the proposal. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), in a recent Armed Services Committee hearing, dismissed the rebranding as political “cosplay” and noted that Congress has not authorized — or attempted to authorize — any change.

Ten Senate Democrats have asked the Congressional Budget Office for a formal cost estimate, calling the effort “wasteful and hypocritical” given Trump’s stated commitment to cutting government spending.

The Pentagon has already begun implementing elements of the new branding. The department’s website URL and social media pages were changed in early September, shortly after Trump signed an executive order allowing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use the title “secretary of war.”

Hegseth quickly updated office signage to reflect the new title, though many other markers throughout the Pentagon — including its brass exterior plaques — still read “Department of Defense.”

The biggest remaining hurdle is software. Pentagon officials say recoding websites and internal systems across classified and unclassified networks will be one of the most time-consuming and expensive tasks.

“It touches every portal, every login screen, every form, every record,” one senior GOP staffer said.

The potential $2 billion cost comes at a politically sensitive moment. Trump and Hegseth have pushed deep cuts to Pentagon staffing, arguing the department must reduce overhead and redirect resources toward “lethality” and a revived “warrior ethos.”

Democrats argue the rebranding undermines those fiscal messages.

“You can’t talk austerity out of one side of your mouth and then request a $2 billion name change out of the other,” one Democratic aide said.

Without legislative approval, “Department of War” remains a secondary title that can be used on correspondence — not the official legal name of the department.

For now, the name is being adopted across some Pentagon communications under Trump’s executive order, but Congress would need to pass legislation to make it binding.

“There is no effort in Congress to make the name change,” Kaine said. “None.”

The proposal nonetheless remains a priority for the White House, which said it is working “hand-in-glove” with the Pentagon on next steps.

Whether Congress picks up the issue — and whether taxpayers ultimately foot a multi-billion-dollar bill — remains an open question, and one likely to factor into an already contentious fight over spending in the months ahead.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)