Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth finishes installing a Department of War plaque at the Pentagon's main entrance Nov. 13, 2025. (Madelyn Keech/U.S. Air Force)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fastened the final screw into a new Department of War plaque at the Pentagon’s main entrance for visiting VIPs Thursday, marking the latest effort to cement a name change that still requires congressional backing.
The new signage replaced previous Defense Department plaques that had been on the building for around 70 years, Hegseth said.
The White House seeks to have the agency use a name that was used by what is now the Department of the Army from 1789 to 1947.
“We want everybody who comes through this door to know that we are deadly serious about the name change of this organization,” Hegseth said.
Each of the two new bronze plaques installed Thursday weighs about 60 pounds and is roughly 30 by 20 inches, the Pentagon said. One was placed at the grand entrance facing the Potomac River, the other at the building’s National Mall entrance.
A Department of War plaque hangs at the main entrance to the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., after installation Nov. 13, 2025. (Madelyn Keech/U.S. Air Force)
But because official redesignation requires an act of Congress, Republicans on Capitol Hill are taking steps to make Department of War the formal name of the U.S. government’s largest organization.
In September, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah introduced legislation to begin the process. Rep. Greg Steube of Florida has brought similar legislation in the House.
It’s unclear when action will be taken on the bills, which numerous Democrats have said they oppose.
Even so, since President Donald Trump’s executive order in September that authorized the use of Department of War in official correspondence, the Pentagon has been moving to rebrand the department.
The new name is now used in official department releases, and war.gov also replaced defense.gov as the department’s web address.
“We love everything that the Department of Defense represented, but this is a new era of the Department of War that is focused on winning wars ... and making sure that we know exactly what the mission is and that the troops are sent there to succeed and win,” Hegseth said Thursday.
It remains unclear how much a name change would cost. An NBC news report Wednesday citing unidentified congressional sources said the cost could be as high as $2 billion.
But Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the network in a statement that a final cost hasn’t been calculated.
The final figure would likely hinge on the extent of replacement for signage, letterhead, name plates and digital coding related to the department’s many websites.
