Depending on how DoD implements the order to use the name "Department of War," CBO estimates that costs could range from a few million dollars up to $125 million. A modest implementation of the name change would cost about $10 million.
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). CBO was asked to provide an estimate of the cost of implementing that order. CBO was also asked 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.
