CBO Tells Merkley: Trump Administration Attempt to Rename the Department of Defense Could Balloon to $125 Million

CBO Tells Merkley: Trump Administration Attempt to Rename the Department of Defense Could Balloon to $125 Million

Without Action from Congress, Trump's Move to Rename the Department of Defense is Unofficial and a Deliberate Waste of Taxpayer Money; Department of Defense Refused to Share Financial Data with the Congressional Budget Office Regarding this Vanity Project

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) told U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, that the Trump Administration could spend upwards of $125 million in its attempt to rename the Department of Defense (DOD). Similar to Trump's attempt to rename the Kennedy Center after himself, without action by Congress to pass legislation to legally rename DOD, the President's executive order is an unofficial and symbolic designation.

"Instead of prioritizing bringing down the cost of groceries or health care, Trump and his cronies are focused on vanity projects like renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War - potentially costing American taxpayers upwards of $125 million," said Ranking Member Jeff Merkley. "Simply put: Trump does not have the authority to rename DOD without an act of Congress. This move is performative government at its worst and does nothing to advance national security or help service members and their families.

"Trump continues to make it clear that he has no interest in helping working Americans get ahead. He continues to claim that the affordability crisis we're facing is a hoax, all while he wastes money renaming agencies and renovating the White House, covering it in gold. Meanwhile, working Americans are dealing with the repercussions of the Republicans' Big, Ugly Betrayal law that makes families sicker and poorer while giving handouts to billionaires. It's just more of Trump's families lose, and billionaires win agenda," Merkley continued.

In September, Merkley led nine of his Senate colleagues, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, in calling on CBO to probe the cost of Trump's executive order renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War. DOD refused to respond to CBO's inquiry and did not share any financials on what has already been spent on this project.

To put this into perspective, the average monthly benefit per participant in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is about $187 per month. Reallocating the wasteful cost of renaming DOD to the SNAP program would ensure more than 55,500 Americans could be fed for a year.

The full response from CBO can be found HERE.

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