House Votes to Codify Trump’s Gulf of America Renaming Into Law
The Republican-controlled U.S. House codified President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” on Thursday, one of the first significant presidential moves sought by Congress to enact his agenda.
The measure, proposed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), passed the lower house by a vote of 211 to 206, with only one Republican joining all Democrats in voting against the proposal to rename the body of water.
This is Trump’s first executive order that the House is codifying, which has sparked criticism from Greene’s fellow Republicans, who feel the House should be voting on more vital issues, the Washington Examiner noted.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) indicated earlier this week that he would vote against the bill, calling the legislative effort “juvenile.”
“We’re the United States of America. We’re not Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany or Napoleon’s France. I just — we’re better than this. It just sounds like a sophomore thing to do,” Bacon told CNN.
The legislation calls for “any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘Gulf of America.’”
It also orders the secretary of the interior to oversee the name change on government records and maps, which must be completed by federal agencies no later than 180 days after the Act is passed.
Trump’s decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico provoked outrage among the press corps, as the Associated Press refused to modify its stylebook to reflect Trump’s decision. In response, the Trump administration prohibited the outlet from the Oval Office, sparking a court battle over the First Amendment.
A lower court judge decided in favor of the Associated Press, ruling that the government’s conduct violated the First Amendment and constituted “viewpoint discrimination.”
The Trump administration challenged the court’s judgment, but it has continued to deny the media access to some events.
The package has a tough struggle in the Senate, where Republicans must pass a 60-vote barrier, known as the filibuster.
Some Democrats may join the GOP in voting for the bill, but Republicans would need the support of seven Democrats or independents to push it into law.
Last week, the House unanimously passed a measure resurrecting a key office that advocates for the survivors of U.S. military veterans.
By a vote of 424-0, the House passed H.R. 1228, called the “Prioritizing Veterans’ Survivors Act,” which was a strong bipartisan vote to restore the Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA) to its original role under the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
The measure ensures that the office once more serves as the principal adviser on policies that affect military families and the survivors of loved ones lost in military service. The passage of the bill reverses a 2021 action that sidelined advocacy for veterans’ survivors, according to reports.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), amends Title 38, United States Code, “to clarify the organization of the Office of Survivors Assistance of the Department of Veterans Affairs,” according to GovTrack. The measure now heads to the Senate for consideration.
VA Secretary Doug Collins, a former GOP lawmaker from Georgia, recently said that he was supportive of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency efforts to streamline his department as well as the rest of the government.
“I’m going to make decisions best for my employees and best for the veterans. They’re giving us good advice, looking with fresh eyes,” Collins told NewsNation during a wide-ranging interview on the cable news network recently. “We need to make sure we’re doing the best we can for those veterans out there.”
