About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


1 Phillip L. Swagel, The Costs of Using the Name "Department of War" 1 (January 14, 2026)

handle is hein.congrec/csousignm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Phillip L. Swagel, Director U.S. Congress Washington, DC 20515 January 14, 2026 Honorable Jeff Merkley Honorable Chuck Schumer Ranking Member Democratic Leader Committee on the Budget United States Senate United States Senate Re: The Costs of Using the Name Department of War Dear Ranking Member Merkley and Leader Schumer: On September 5, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14347, which authorized the use of Department of War (DoW) as a secondary title for the Department of Defense (DoD). You asked the Congressional Budget Office to provide an estimate of the cost of implementing that order. You also asked CBO to estimate the cost of a statutory renaming (that is, officially renaming DoD through authorizing legislation, rather than simply making DoW a secondary title). This letter provides information about a range of potential costs of that name change. In CBO's assessment, it would cost about $10 million for a modest implementation of the order if the name change primarily occurred within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Those costs would be opportunity costs; that is, they would probably be paid from existing budgets through forbearance of other activities. CBO's estimate is uncertain because DoD has not provided information about how it plans to implement the order. Costs would be at least a few million dollars if DoD phased in a minimal implementation, but they could be as large as $125 million if the name change was implemented broadly and rapidly throughout the department. A statutory renaming could cost hundreds of millions of dollars depending on how Congress and DoD chose to implement the change. Background Under Executive Order 14347, DoD is limited to using Department of War as a parallel designation; the order does not alter the department's