Dem
47
GOP
53
Yup, the Department of War. The House Armed Services Committee has voted to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War. Presumably, this move will scare all the Bad Countries into not messing with the United States. According to Sec. of (still) Defense Pete Hegseth, this reflects a tougher military that fights and decisively wins wars. Someone should ask him: "If the name change had occurred last year, would you have won the war in Iran instead of losing it?"
Putting the name change in a House bill that hasn't even passed yet does not mean it is a done deal. In particular, the bill has to pass the full House and then pass the full Senate. Democrats are likely to oppose it as a meaningless gesture. The ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith (D-WA), said the proposal is "one of the dumbest things that has been done by this administration." Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) was less kind. He said: "It's performative bullshit." The C.B.O. has estimated that the change will cost $125 million.
The fact that the name change made it into the trillion-dollar defense bill for the time being is testimony that Donald Trump still holds enormous sway over members of Congress. Even the budget hawks voted for something that does nothing for national defense and wastes $125 million that could otherwise have been used to, say, give the troops a raise to improve morale, or something else of actual value. (V)