The House is poised to take up legislation next week to rename the coastal body of water that stretches from Florida to Texas the Gulf of America.
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to vote on advancing the legislation on Monday, sending it to the full floor for a vote later in the week. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America upon the start of his second term.
STEPHEN MILLER STICKS IT TO THE PRESS DURING 100-DAY VICTORY LAP
But the president had floated renaming the body of water before he assumed the Oval Office, saying the “Gulf of America” was a “beautiful name.”
His remarks spurred Greene to start drafting a bill on the proposal, posting on X that she would be filing “legislation ASAP.”
Greene’s bill, introduced on Jan. 9, 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 directs the secretary of the interior to oversee the changing of the name in federal documents and maps, and it must be done by federal agencies no later than 180 days after the legislation is passed.
However, the move has not been without controversy and was the spark of a fight between the second Trump administration and the Associated Press over the name change.
The Associated Press, which declined to change its stylebook to acknowledge Trump’s renaming of the Gulf, resulted in the administration barring the outlet from the Oval Office and a back-and-forth court battle over the First Amendment.
The legislation, however, would have a tougher time in the Senate, as it would need to pass the 60-vote threshold. While Republicans hold the majority in the upper chamber, they only hold 53 seats, whereas Democrats/independents hold 47.