HR 5080119th CongressIn Committee

Department of War Restoration Act of 2025

Introduced: Sep 2, 2025

Sponsor: Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17] (R-Florida)

Defense & National Security

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Department of War Restoration Act of 2025 would rename the Department of Defense back to the Department of War, and would rename the top official accordingly from Secretary of Defense to Secretary of War. The bill also provides a transitional provision: any reference in laws, rules, regulations, certificates, directives, instructions, or other official papers that is in force on the enactment date would be treated as referring to the Department of War and the Secretary of War, respectively. The bill does not propose new authorities, budgets, or organizational changes beyond the change in name and a corresponding label for leadership. In short, this is a branding/name-change bill that preserves the current functions and structure of U.S. national defense authorities while restoring the historical name. It would require widespread updating of official documents and references to reflect the new designation, but it does not, on its face, alter military policy, power, or funding.

Key Points

1Redesignation: The Department of Defense would be renamed the Department of War, and the head of the department would be titled the Secretary of War.
2References updated: Any law, rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on enactment would treat references to the DoD and the Secretary of Defense as referring to the Department of War and the Secretary of War.
3Scope of change: The bill focuses on designation/name changes and does not specify new powers, authorities, or funding beyond this renaming.
4Legislative action: Introduced in the House by Mr. Steube (for himself and Mr. Moore of Alabama) and referred to the Committee on Armed Services on September 2, 2025.
5Short title: The act may be cited as the “Department of War Restoration Act of 2025.”

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: U.S. military personnel, Department of Defense civilian employees, and contractors who interact with the department (in practice, all entities will need to align with the new department name and leadership title).Secondary group/area affected: Congress and government agencies that reference the DoD or Secretary of Defense in statutes, regulations, and official documents; the public and media publicizing defense activities.Additional impacts:- Administrative and legal: Broad updating of statutes, regulations, procurement documents, branding, insignia, official seals, and communications to reflect the new name.- Symbolic/public perception: Restoration of the historical name could influence public sentiment and historical framing of the nation’s defense establishment.- Transitional burden: Administrative costs and potential confusion during a transition period as agencies update references and materials.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 8, 2025