A House panel voted Thursday to return the names of nine southern U.S. military bases to those recommended in 2023 by a congressional commission assigned to study the Defense Department’s Confederate honorifics.
After a spirited 30-minute debate late Thursday evening, members of the House Armed Services Committee approved an amendment offered by Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Wash., to change the names in a narrow 29-27 vote.
In offering her amendment, Strickland said it was necessary because the Trump administration ignored Congress by changing the new names, choosing to honor, instead, different service members with the same last names as the Confederate officers for which the bases originally were named.
Strickland said while the current names honor military personnel in their own right — for example, Fort Lee in Virginia is now named for Fitz Lee, a Buffalo soldier who earned the Medal of Honor — the administration’s changes sidestepped the law and were hurtful to many military personnel and veterans for reviving Confederate legacies.
“They used the same stunt the commission considered and rejected, finding new service members that share the same last name as the Confederate traitors,” Strickland said.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who voted for the amendment, said his Virginia ancestor fought for the Union and would be “rolling in his grave” knowing U.S. military bases were named for Confederate leaders.
“I thought we did it right in 2020 — we debated it, it was a strong debate here. It passed in the House, a Democrat majority, and it passed in the Senate, Republican majority,“ Bacon said. ”The president vetoed it, and we overrode the veto. We did it right, and what happens is the secretary comes in here, puts his thumb in our eye … it should bother all of us.”
Lawmakers opposed to the change said the longstanding names have widespread and international recognition and mean much to the troops who have served on the bases, even as they may not know much about the installation’s namesakes.
“To judge historical figures by the morality of our time is taking certain things out of context … I just heard we can’t honor our forefathers who enslaved other people. Are we going to rename this city? Where does it end?” asked Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas.
“I think Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and President Trump have struck a reasonable balance. Our history should be taught, not erased, the good and bad,” agreed Rep. John McGuire, R-Va.
Under Strickland’s amendment, the Naming Commission’s recommendations would be reinstated: Fort A.P. Hill would become Fort Walker; Fort Bragg would become Fort Liberty; Fort Benning would become Fort Moore; Fort Hood would become Fort Cavazos; Fort Lee would become Fort Gregg-Adams; Fort Polk would become Fort Johnson; Fort Rucker would be Fort Novosel; and Fort Pickett would be Fort Barfoot.
Fort Gordon also would become Fort Shughart-Gordon. The installation, once named for Confederate Maj. General John Brown Gordon, was changed last year to honor Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, a Medal of Honor recipient for his heroism in the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia.
Strickland said she worked with Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., to add the name Sgt. First Class Randall Shughart, who also earned the Medal of Honor in that battle.
Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., joined with Bacon and committee Democrats to overturn the names.
Codifying the ‘Department of War’
The panel also voted to change the name of the Defense Department to the Department of War. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, introduced the amendment, saying that the change sends an “unmistakable signal” that “America is willing to fight and win to secure its interests.”
“This name reflects the determination and resolve of our brave men and women of the U.S. military who aggressively fight to secure our national interests,” Jackson said. “Our military does much more than defend the homeland.”
The War Department was established by legislation signed by President George Washington in 1789, and it remained so until 1947, when President Harry Truman sought to consolidate the services under a single Cabinet-level command structure.
Truman recommended that Congress pass legislation creating a Department of National Defense, which became the Defense Department.
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Trump issued an executive order Sept. 5, 2025, to restore the name Department of War, a secondary title to the Defense Department. The department has been using the moniker but requires legislation to permanently change the name.
Smith said the name change would have very little impact on adversaries.
“Practically speaking, it makes no frickin’ difference whatsoever. We have a lot of important work to do … and we are arguing over a name. It’s incredibly expensive to change that name,” Smith said.
Earlier in the day, the panel also voted unanimously by voice vote to ban hate symbols like swastikas, nooses and other graphics across the department, to include tattoos, uniforms, patches, personal equipment and government property.
The amendment requires the secretary to establish standards for identifying and addressing prohibited symbols and procedural review for removal.
The proposal is related to a policy change last year by the Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, that classified the Nazi insignia as “potentially divisive” rather than a hate symbol.
Coast Guard officials said the policy change was misunderstood, and it was designed to clarify — not downgrade — its stand on extremist symbols.
“This is not an updated policy but a new policy to combat any misinformation and double down that the U.S. Coast Guard forbids these symbols,” officials wrote in a statement.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.
