The House has approved an annual defence policy bill that includes a proposal to rename the Department of Defense as the “Department of War”. The move is significant because it would revive the department’s pre-1949 name and signals a more forceful political framing of US military policy.

The available article text does not provide the bill’s vote total, the wider provisions of the legislation, or its prospects in the Senate. Any renaming would require further congressional action and presidential approval before taking effect.