House passes defense bill backing $1.15 trillion national-security package and Department of War renaming
The U.S. House passed a defense-policy bill on July 22, 2026, that incorporates President Donald Trump’s request for approximately $1.15 trillion in national-security spending and proposes renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
The measure also includes a proposed pay raise for service members ranging from 5% to 7%, depending on rank. It addresses authority over the naming of military installations and other military property.
The action sets out major proposed changes to national defense priorities, military compensation and the institutional identity of the federal agency responsible for defense policy. But the legislation is not yet final law.
What the House bill would do
The spending figure in the measure is approximately $1.15 trillion in proposed national-security spending. The bill incorporates that request rather than establishing, by itself, final appropriated funding.
That distinction matters for readers and service members. The House action signals the level of national-security spending lawmakers are backing in this bill, but the approved record does not establish that the amount has become final funding.
The proposed service-member pay increase would range from 5% to 7%, with the specific increase depending on rank. The measure therefore ties compensation changes to the legislation’s broader defense-policy package rather than presenting the pay provision as a separately enacted change.
The bill also addresses military-installation and property naming authority. Under the proposal, that issue would be handled as part of the defense legislation, alongside spending and personnel provisions. The approved record does not provide a list of installations or properties affected by the naming language.
Renaming the department
The measure would designate the Department of Defense as the Department of War. Because the House action remains a congressional bill, the proposed designation should not be described as an effective legal change.
A change to the department’s name would have broad institutional and legal implications, according to the approved account of the legislation. Those implications are part of why the naming provision extends beyond a simple change in terminology: it could affect how the department is identified across federal military policy and related authorities if the language ultimately becomes law.
For now, however, the House passage establishes only that the proposal is included in the bill passed by that chamber. The available record does not confirm that the name has changed or that associated legal authorities have taken effect.
What happens next
The bill’s status remains unresolved in the approved record. It does not establish whether the Senate subsequently passed the same language or whether President Trump signed it.
That leaves several key questions open: whether the $1.15 trillion request remains in the final defense legislation, whether the 5% to 7% pay provisions survive, and whether the Department of War renaming language is included in enacted text. The final status of the renaming provision requires checking the enacted defense-authorization text, while the spending figure also would need to be distinguished from final appropriations.
No deadline for those next steps is established in the approved source record. Until there is confirmation of final congressional action and enactment, the spending level, pay raise, naming authority and department renaming remain proposals contained in a House-passed bill.
Sources
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