Just over two months after President Donald Trump announced a name change of the Department of Defense to rename it the Department of War, an NBC News report citing six people with knowledge of the matter revealed the potential cost: up to $2 billion.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mocked the change on social media in September, writing “WAR DEPARTMENT” and linking to a related News report. The White House then confirmed it to News themezone, followed by an executive order on the plan.

The name change would require changing thousands of signs, banners, letterheads and insignia, according to two senior Republican congressional officials, two senior Democratic congressional officials and two anonymous people briefed on the cost, according to NBC News.

The four employees and one of the people briefed added that the new letterhead and signs alone could cost taxpayers $1 billion. Staff said rewriting code for all of the department’s internal websites and applications would also be significantly expensive.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the outlet in an emailed statement that the full cost of the change has yet to be determined, but that the new name will be “permanent,” before blaming Democrats for the government shutdown and their lack of an exact figure.

There was previously a War Department, specifically from 1789 to 1947. Trump claimed in June that it was renamed “Defense” because “we became politically correct.”

The National Archives says it was renamed when a 1947 law combined the departments of the U.S. Army with the Navy and Air Force, and was called the National Military Establishment before being renamed in 1949 to the Department of Defense.

“Under the Trump administration, we are restoring the pride and winning spirit of the United States military,” Trump said Tuesday during a Veterans Day speech. “That is why we have officially changed the name of the Department of Defense to the original Department of War.”

A new sign with the name change was seen outside Hegseth's office in September.
A new sign with the name change was seen outside Hegseth’s office in September.

Mike Pesoli/News

Earlier this year, the United States embarked on a series of deadly attacks against suspected drug traffickers in Caribbean and Pacific waters. Lawmakers from both parties have denounced the killings as “illegal” and “summary executions.”

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The determined effort to rename the Defense Department also comes amid Trump’s alleged efforts to reduce spending — cutting millions of Americans off of Medicaid and dismantling federal agencies — that 10 Senate Democrats haven’t forgotten.

In a September letter to Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel, they noted that the name change requires congressional approval, asked for clear projected costs and said it “appears to prioritize political theater over responsible governance.”

The letter further said: “Given the Trump administration’s repeated emphasis on fiscal restraint—particularly its aggressive use of illegal seizures and now, unconstitutional pocketbook rescissions—this symbolic name change is both wasteful and hypocritical.”