Renaming the Pentagon Could Cost $125 Million

A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that renaming the U.S. Department of Defense to the “Department of War” could cost taxpayers up to $125 million, depending on the scale and speed of implementation.

The push for the name change began in September when former President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the new title, which he argued would project strength and criticized the current “Department of Defense” label as “woke.”

While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth immediately acted on the order by changing office signs and temporarily switching the Pentagon’s website to “war.gov,” Congress has not shown serious interest in passing the legislation required for a permanent statutory change.

The CBO report notes that a minimal, phased implementation would cost a few million dollars, but a broad and rapid rollout—replacing signs, logos, and seals across the Pentagon’s vast 6.5 million square feet of space and at global military facilities—could reach the nine-figure sum, raising questions about the use of funds for what critics call a largely symbolic rebranding effort.