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The Department of War just shot the accountants and opted for speed

(steveblank.com)
285 points ridruejo | 5 comments | 11 Nov 25 14:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.751s | source
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Hizonner ◴[11 Nov 25 22:32 UTC] No.45893811[source]▶
The United States does not have a "Department of War".
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thaunatos ◴[11 Nov 25 22:35 UTC] No.45893832[source]▶
It does. https://www.war.gov/
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Hizonner ◴[11 Nov 25 22:43 UTC] No.45893909[source]▶
Bad news. Trump and Hegseth do not have the authority to rename the Department of Defense, no matter what they put on a Web site. That requires an act of Congress, which hasn't happened. And probably won't, because even if they could convince Congress to do it, that would require them to ask... and their whole modus operandi is based around pretending to have authority they don't have.

Calling it the Department of War is accepting that Trump's the King.

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1. johnnyanmac ◴[12 Nov 25 01:40 UTC] No.45895423[source]▶
I thought the executive had the power to rename existing departments and map landmarks. That's why we got "DOGE" disgused under the USDS and the "Gulf of America".

If that's not legal, I'll do my best to act shocked.

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2. nickthegreek ◴[12 Nov 25 02:04 UTC] No.45895573[source]▶
In this case, the executive had the power to add a secondary title, Department of War. It does not override the primary name of Dept of Defense but it appears to be the proper amount of appeasement.
3. metaphor ◴[12 Nov 25 03:26 UTC] No.45896091[source]▶
Stop thinking and RTFM[1]:

> (a) The Secretary of Defense is authorized the use of this additional secondary title — the Secretary of War — and may be recognized by that title in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts, and non-statutory documents within the executive branch.

> (b) The Department of Defense and the Office of the Secretary of Defense may be referred to as the Department of War and the Office of the Secretary of War, respectively, in the contexts described in subsection (a) of this section.

[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...

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4. probably_wrong ◴[12 Nov 25 07:44 UTC] No.45897375[source]▶
I think you should also quote this part:

> Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of War shall submit to the President (...) a recommendation on the actions required to permanently change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. This recommendation shall include the proposed legislative and executive actions necessary to accomplish this renaming.

It may currently be a second name, but the explicit intention is for it to become the only one. In HN terms I'd argue that saying "there is no Department of War" is akin to arguing that a piece of software doesn't have feature X because it's only available in the beta release.

5. fnordpiglet ◴[12 Nov 25 09:01 UTC] No.45897931[source]▶
AKA - it’s the department of defense in the same way Robert Kennedy was named Robert but went by Bobby sometimes. Trump doesn’t get to change the name, just assign an unofficial nickname that he thinks sounds more tough. Sort of like his pretend tough guy Secretary of defense that dresses up as a Secretary of war for TV moments. The fact they drag along the entire military and its leadership in their charade is embarrassing, and the asinine nickname is expensive and likely causes operational confusion.