Tim Kaine Battles Trump Cabinet Member for Saying ‘Department of War’ Instead of DOD: ‘Whimsical Cosplay!’
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) on Thursday got into it with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought over his use of “Department of War” instead of Department of Defense.
In September 2025, President Donald Trump declared the Department of Defense would renamed to the War Department. The federal government had the War Department until 1947, when President Harry Truman split up the various branches of the armed forces and renamed the National Military Establishment as the Department of Defense. The change back to the War Department, Trump said, was meant to reflect his administration’s goal of rejecting a “wokey” or “politically correct” approach to foreign policy.
On Thursday, Vought was in Capitol Hill to testify on Trump’s 2027 budget request. After bickering about tariffs, Kaine pivoted to Trump’s proposed DOD budget. That’s when he decided to confirm with Vought that Department of Defense was the correct name. The exchange continued:
KAINE: I’ve heard you go back and forth between talking about the investment in the Department of Defense or the Department of War. Now, just for everybody here, legally the name of this department is the Department of Defense, correct?
VOUGHT: It’s the Department of War.
KAINE: And why do you say that?
VOUGHT: Because that’s what the president and his team has renamed it–
KAINE: And there’s a statute that calls it the Department of Defense. The president did an executive order saying the Department of War was a secondary title in September of 2025. Have you been instructed to use the phrase the Department of War?
VOUGHT: No, there’s an executive order that goes through–
KAINE: OK, you’re just voluntarily complying with this whimsical cosplay!
Although Trump signed an executive order to rename the department, the change has to be made official through congressional approval. At the time of writing, the chances of that happening were unlikely.
Watch above via C-SPAN
The post Tim Kaine Battles Trump Cabinet Member for Saying ‘Department of War’ Instead of DOD: ‘Whimsical Cosplay!’ first appeared on Mediaite.
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