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As reported, President Trump signed an Executive Order Friday to rename the Defense Department.
The executive order calls for using the Department of War as a secondary title for the Department of Defense, along with phrases like "secretary of war" for Hegseth, according to a White House fact sheet.
The order also instructs Hegseth to propose both legislative and executive actions to make the name permanently U.S. Department of War.
The U.S. employed the Department of War title for its military agency until 1949, when it was renamed the Department of Defense in accordance with a series of massive reforms included in the National Security Act of 1947.