Democrat Senator Tim Kaine (Va.) has weaseled an amendment into the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026 that would handcuff Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when it comes to the naming of certain military bases and other Pentagon assets.
Erasure
The Department of Defense took part in the iconoclastic Biden-era sweep of American history that saw graves dug up, statues toppled, animals renamed, busts melted down, and church windows removed.
Pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 — which survived a Dec. 23, 2020, veto by President Donald Trump — former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin established a commission to identify, for the purpose of removal, “names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia to assets of the Department of Defense that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.”
Austin ultimately embraced all of the commission’s recommendations.
As a result, nine Army installations took on new names: Fort Bragg in North Carolina became Fort Liberty; Fort Benning in Georgia became Fort Moore; Fort Gordon in Georgia became Fort Eisenhower; Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia became Fort Walker; Fort Hood in Texas became Fort Cavazos; Fort Lee in Virginia became Fort Gregg-Adams; Fort Pickett in Virginia became Fort Barfoot; Fort Polk in Louisiana became Fort Johnson; and Fort Rucker in Alabama became Fort Novosel.
Restoration
These changes delighted Democrats and other leftists.
Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (Va.), both on the Senate Armed Services Committee, were among those who celebrated the condemnation of memory, claiming in a joint statement that the name changes were “proof that progress is possible.”
Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Trump signaled a desire to reverse the changes.
Months after Hegseth restored the names of Forts Bragg and Benning, the commander in chief told a North Carolina crowd that the other seven Army installations were similarly getting their proper names back.
Among the Democrats prickled by this twist of fate was Kaine, who told reporters in June that Trump lacked the authority to make the name changes, stating, “The president can’t change the law on a whim, and his court jester Pete Hegseth can’t do it either.”
Prohibition
The U.S. Senate plans to vote this month on its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.
‘We learn from our triumphs and our pains, which makes our country stronger.’
The bill currently contains an amendment, section 349, which would require Hegseth to use the names of Pentagon assets in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including military bases, that were adopted by the Biden-era naming commission.
This amendment, which Kaine’s office confirmed to Blaze News was the Virginia Democrat’s handiwork, bars Hegseth from overriding the Virginia-specific naming recommendations of the commission.
If the NDAA 2026 is passed as is, Forts A.P. Hill, Lee, and Pickett will become Forts Walker, Gregg-Adams, and Barfoot, just as the Biden-era revisionists intended.
When pressed on whether there was a conversation about limiting this prohibition to Virginia, the office of one Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee told Blaze News, “NDAA deliberations are held at a classified level, so we cannot comment on the process involved in the inclusion of this provision.”
Blaze News reached out to several Republicans on the committee to ask whether they would fight the amendment but has so far received no confirmations.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement to Blaze News, “Past administrations have tried to rename bases that should [never have] been changed in the first place. Here at the Pentagon, we honor our American history and traditions; we don’t erase it.”
“We learn from our triumphs and our pains, which makes our country stronger,” added Wilson.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Tim kaine, Pete hegseth, Fort bragg, Fort lee, Fort hood, Fort a.p. hill, Fort pickett, Fort rucker, Pentagon, Military, Defense, Department of defense, Donald trump, Kaine, Democrats, Renaming, Base, Army, Army base, Politics
