House Votes to Rename Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America, Taking a Symbolic Step
"The legislation was all but certain to die in the Senate, but the move put the Republican-led House on the record supporting President Trump’s nomenclature.
A divided House on Thursday approved legislation to permanently rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, moving over the taunting objections of Democrats to codify President Trump’s executive order renaming the body of water in line with his “America First” worldview.
The 211-to-206 mostly party-line vote to pass the bill amounted to a symbolic show of Republican deference to Mr. Trump, given that Democrats are unlikely to allow the legislation to move forward in the Senate. But it put the G.O.P.-led House on the record backing the president in his effort to rewrite the rules of geography and to dare critics to defy him.
Just one Republican, Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, voted no.
The White House has barred journalists from The Associated Press from covering events in the Oval Office and flying aboard Air Force One, as punishment for the news organization’s continued use of the name Gulf of Mexico.
“The American people deserve pride in their country, and pride in the waters that we own and we protect with our military and our Coast Guard,” said Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who sponsored the bill, calling it “one of the most important things we can do this Congress.”
Democrats dismissed the legislation as a pandering and performative waste of time when Republicans were struggling to reach agreement on legislation to fulfill the president’s domestic policy agenda — the “big, beautiful bill” that could include unpopular cuts to Medicaid.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, called it a “silly, small-minded and sycophantic piece of legislation.” He said the only silver lining of the exercise was that it underscored how Republicans were laboring to enact that domestic policy measure, which he warned would impose the largest Medicaid cut in history.
“It’s easy to mock this legislation because it’s so inane and embarrassing,” Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said during debate on the measure this week. “This may be the dumbest bill brought to the floor during the six years I’ve served in this Congress.”
Ms. Scanlon and other Democrats noted that recent polls, including one conducted by Fox News, showed that almost 70 percent of voters opposed Mr. Trump’s executive action to rename the Gulf, making it one of the least popular actions of his busy first 100 days.
Ms. Greene defended her legislation as patriotic and noted that her political opponents were happy to rename landmarks when it suited their preferences, a reference to the renaming of Confederate symbols after George Floyd’s death in 2020. And she accused Democrats of opposing the name change for the Gulf because “the cartels are their business partners.”
Representative Bruce Westerman, Republican of Arkansas, said the legislation simply “symbolizes Republicans’ commitment to putting America first.”
Ms. Greene’s bill states that 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.’” And it instructs the interior secretary to oversee the renaming on federal documents and maps.
Some Democrats used a portion of their debate to underscore the economic issues House Republicans were not addressing while passing legislation to codify a name change that they said voters did not ask for.
“We can focus on 40 million Americans saddled with medical debt, or we could rename the Gulf of Mexico,” Representative Julie Johnson, Democrat of Texas, said this week on the House floor. “We can address our nation’s lack of affordable housing, or we can rename the Gulf of Mexico.”
Others couldn’t contain their stupefaction at how they were being forced to use their time.
“Why not rename the entire planet ‘Planet Trump’?” Representative Jared Huffman, Democrat of California said, noting that Mr. Trump’s sons were selling “Gulf of America” hats online for $50 apiece and calling the renaming exercise part of a family grift.
Representative Steny H. Hoyer, the patrician Democrat from Maryland, compared the House floor to a late-night comedy show. “Live from Washington, D.C., Saturday Night Live!” he said. “You can’t make this up.”
Mr. Hoyer noted that voting on the Gulf of America Act was the only legislation the House was considering all day, and for the remainder of the week.
Mr. Trump said during his inaugural address that one of his first actions in the White House would be to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The new name, he said after following through on that promise, had a “beautiful ring.”
The president also signed a proclamation declaring an official Gulf of America Day, which he signed in February aboard Air Force One while flying over the body of water en route to the Super Bowl.
Some companies have instituted the change. Organizations that have not, including The A.P., have been punished by the White House. Google has renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in its Maps application for users in the United States.
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership.
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