五角大楼正在敦促国会保留年度国防授权法案中的相关条款，这些条款将正式授权将“国防部”更名为“战争部”。“唐纳德·特朗普总统和战争部长皮特·赫格塞斯有勇气直截了当地说出这一点。华盛顿的许多人本会维持原名不变。总统在签署授权‘战争部’名称的行政命令时，选择了清晰而非便利，”五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在周一发表于福克斯新闻数字版的一篇署名文章中写道。“这是恢复，而非发明，”同时也是赫格塞斯高级顾问的帕内尔写道。
The Pentagon is pressing Congress to keep measures in the annual defense policy bill that would formally authorize the name change from Department of Defense to Department of War. “President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had the conviction to say so plainly. Many in Washington would have left the name alone. The president chose clarity over convenience when he signed the executive order authorizing the Department of War name,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, wrote in an op-ed for Fox News Digital, which was published on Monday. “This is a restoration, not an invention,” Parnell, who is also Hegseth’s senior adviser, wrote.
五角大楼的坚持正值众议院军事委员会（HASC）和参议院军事委员会（SASC）均在其《国防授权法案》（NDAA）草案中通过了将部门名称更改为特朗普政府偏好的名称的条款之际。由众议员罗尼·杰克逊（共和党-得克萨斯州）提出的正式更名部门的修正案，作为特朗普的坚定盟友，在六月的马拉松式NDAA会议上以29票对27票通过。这一推动始于特朗普去年秋天签署行政命令授权更名，赫格塞斯随之采用“战争部长”头衔，国会山许多共和党人也已开始用新名称称呼该部门。
The Pentagon’s insistence comes as both the House (HASC) and Senate Armed Services Committees (SASC) adopted measures in their drafts of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would codify the department’s name change to one preferred by the Trump administration. The amendment, put forward by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a staunch Trump ally, to formally rename the department was adopted during the June marathon NDAA session with a 29-27 vote. The push began after Trump signed an executive order last fall to authorize the name change with Hegseth taking on the title of “Secretary of War” and many Republicans on Capitol Hill have referred to the department by the new name.
战争部于1789年在前总统乔治·华盛顿任内设立，该名称沿用至1949年改为国防部。“总统已经采取行动。现在国会必须完成这项工作。众议院和参议院军事委员会均已支持在今年的国防法案中恢复‘战争部’名称，”帕内尔在署名文章中写道。“议员们应在最终版本中保留该条款，并将其送交总统签署。”
The War Department was established in 1789 under former President George Washington and the name remained until 1949 when it became the Defense Department. “The president has acted. Now Congress must finish the job. The House and the Senate Armed Services Committee have both backed restoring the Department of War name in this year’s defense bill,” Parnell wrote in the op-ed. “Lawmakers should keep it in the final version and send it to the president’s desk. The name of the institution that sends Americans to fight belongs in law, not just in an executive order.”
“派遣美国人参战的机构名称应写入法律，而不仅仅是行政命令。”该提议遭到国会民主党人的反对，他们认为此举毫无必要，并指责政府在玩弄文字游戏。“批评者称这一改变具有象征意义，甚至毫无必要。他们完全搞反了。文字定义使命，而使命决定一切。至于我们的盟友，我们有责任向他们明确表述我们的核心使命：打仗并赢得战争。仅此而已，”帕内尔继续说道。
The effort has received pushback from Democrats in Congress, calling it unnecessary and accusing the administration of engaging in semantics. “Critics call the change symbolic, even unnecessary. They have it backward. Words define the mission, and the mission drives everything else. As for our allies, we owe them a clear statement of our core mission: to fight and win wars. Full stop,” Parnell continued.
“清晰能够加强联盟。模糊不清会邀请对手来试探它们。”当五角大楼在四月要求国会将新名称写入法律时，该部门表示这将花费近5200万美元，并辩称这对特朗普创纪录的1.5万亿美元国防预算请求不会产生“重大影响”。国会预算办公室在一份1月份的报告中表示，名称更改可能高达1.25亿美元。“当然，仅靠一个名称并不能使军队更强大。名称是一种承诺，部门必须每天都去赢得它，”帕内尔补充道。
“Clarity strengthens alliances. Ambiguity invites adversaries to test them.”When the Pentagon asked Congress to codify the new name in April, the department said it would cost nearly $52 million and argued it would not have a “significant impact” on Trump’s record $1.5 trillion defense budget request. The Congressional Budget Office said in a January report the name change could cost up to $125 million. “Of course, a name alone does not make a military stronger. The name is a commitment, and the department must earn it every day,” Parnell added.
“每一项采购决策、训练演习和战略投资都应回答一个问题：它是否能让我们的战斗人员更有能力击败任何威胁？”“从超级智能和自主系统到先进武器以及重振的国防工业基础，美国必须继续构建优势，以威慑其对手，并在必要时击败他们。”
“Every acquisition decision, training exercise and strategic investment should answer one question: Does it make our warfighters more capable of defeating any threat?”“From superintelligence and autonomous systems to advanced weapons and a revitalized defense industrial base, the United States must keep building the advantages to deter its adversaries and, if necessary, defeat them.”