The Washington Post | Congress moves to counter Hegseth on base names that evoke Confederacy
By: Noah Robertson
The effort, pushed by Democrats and some Republicans, is tied to must-pass legislation winding its way through the House and Senate.
Congress is inching toward a bipartisan agreement to reversethe Trump administration’s recent renaming of severalArmy bases across the southern United States that had long been politically controversial for honoring Confederate leaders.
Tucked within the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Republican-led House last week is a measure that, if adopted by the Senate, would block Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s reversal of a separate base-renaming effort that was directed by Congress five years ago. The 2020 initiative resulted in nine Army posts originally recognizing Confederates — in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia — being re-designated to honor others, such as women, minorities, generals and a military family.
The Pentagon did away with those changes earlier this year.
The Senate’s defense policy bill, which has not come up for a vote, would overrule Hegseth only for the three bases in Virginia, though the two Democratic senators from Georgia are offering an amendment that would add the two bases in their state. The Senate could pass its bill in the coming week or skip the vote and immediately start work with the House on a compromise version, leading to final votes later this year.
Supporters of the effort hope that the names of at least some of the nine Army posts will be restored to those recommended by the bipartisan congressional commission charged with identifying all military assets, even the names of building and roadways, associated with the Confederacy. Democrats and some supportive Republicans said they are cautiously optimistic.
“I think it is likely that some of the names change or change back,” said Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia), who served on the commission that helped rename the bases, a process that concluded in 2023.
Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that the base names “should have never been changed in the first place,” and she criticized the Biden administration for carrying out the changes recommended by the congressional panel.
“Here at the Pentagon,” Wilson added, “we honor our American history and traditions, we don’t erase it.”
In 2020, during the closing days of his first term, President Donald Trump vetoed the annual defense policy bill — citing, in part, his rejection of the renaming effort. “I have been clear in my opposition to politically motivated attempts like this to wash away history,” he explained to lawmakers then. Congress, in a display of bipartisanship, overrode his veto.
In Trump’s second term, the Pentagon under Hegseth restored the original names but changed the namesakes. Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for example, no longer refers to Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg but Private 1st Class Roland Bragg, a World War II paratrooper honored with the Silver Star. (The commission appointed by Congress had designated it Fort Liberty.)
Hegseth’s move to rename the bases was part of an expansive push by his team to stifle diversity efforts across the Defense Department. He also has overseen the firing of numerous top military leaders, including a disproportionate number of women and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is Black, accusing some of being too focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.
“DEI is dead” at the Pentagon, Hegseth has said.
By reversing the congressional commission’s work, the Trump administration ended the recognition that had been only recently given to a handful of military families, many of whom were beloved in the areas around the bases.
The Moore family, for example, publicly criticized the decision to strip their family name from the Army base in Columbus, Georgia — now known once more as Fort Benning.
Lt. Gen. Hal Moore was a decorated Army officer who fought in the battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War, which he chronicled in the memoir “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young.” His wife, Julia Moore, is credited with improving the Army’s casualty notification system to make it more humane.
“It, to me, was the perfect name,” said Scott, the Republican congressman from Georgia. “It’s the opportunity to represent the warrior at home and the warrior on the battlefield.”
Democrats who offered the amendments to repeal Hegseth’s restoration of the nine base names said they were surprised their efforts attracted bipartisan support.
Sen. Tim Kaine (Virginia) said his measure advanced on a voice voteearlier this summer, only possible with overwhelming agreement. And Rep. Marilyn Strickland (Washington), who led the House amendment, said she didn’t realize she had enough votes until the measure passed.
“If you look at the way amendments tend to go in committee, they are very partisan,” Strickland said in an interview. “It was a pleasant surprise.”
Rep. Don Bacon (Nebraska), a retired Air Force general, was one of the two Republicans in the House Armed Services Committee who supported her amendment. The office of Rep. Derek Schmidt (R-Kansas), who also joined the effort, did not respond when contacted for comment.Bacon said he plans to continue to do so as the bill is reconciled with the Senate’s version.
“They were bad generals. They were traitors to the country,” Bacon said. “I want no part of that.”
Scott had a separate amendment adopted in the House bill that would change the name of Fort Gordon to also honor Randall Shughart, a Medal of Honor recipient killed in 1993 while protecting fellow service members in Mogadishu, Somalia. (The congressional commission changed it to Fort Eisenhower, for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a celebrated general during World War II.) He opposed Strickland’s measure, though, arguing that Fort Liberty was unpopular in the community around the base.
When Hegseth testified before the Senate earlier this summer, Kaine questioned him about the decision to restore the base names, pointing to some of the affected family members who attended the hearing.
“Why did you decide that these four patriots were not worthy enough to have their names on a base,” Kaine said, referencing the four namesakes given to bases in Virginia two years ago.
“This is about restoring all bases to their original names because we’re not about erasing history,” Hegseth responded.
Kaine said in an interview that he was “optimistic” Hegseth’s maneuver would be reversed, at least in his state.
“We’re going to work hard to make sure that it’s in” the final defense policy bill, he said.
Some lawmakers said this may be the only chance to override the Trump administration’s decision. Democrats and Republicans are concerned, they say, about the effect of further politicizing base names. It’s also costly for the government and the surrounding communities — whose economies rely on the military’s presence — to flip back and forth.
“All I can do is pray that everyone sees that it’s a horrible work-around to preserve the history of the Confederacy,” said Steve Moore, one of Hal and Julia Moore’s sons, who helped lead the effort to rename the post after his parents.
The Moore family learned of Hegseth’s initiative through media reporting but later received a call from the secretary, who, they said, conveyed his respect for their parents and offered to find something else to name for them.
Dave Moore, another son who took the call from Hegseth, said he declined, explaining his parents taught him never to accept second place.