WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House on Thursday passed a bill that would codify President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The bill, introduced by conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., requires that “any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record” to the Gulf of Mexico shall be changed to the Gulf of America, according to its text. It notes that the head of each federal agency has 180 days to update their documents and maps, and that the Secretary of Interior will oversee the renaming.
Greene’s bill passed the House along mostly party lines by a 211-206 vote, with one Republican, Rep. Don Bacon, and all Democrats opposing it.
In January, Trump signed an executive order directing the name change, noting that the body of water “has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America.” The gulf is surrounded by Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, as well as some parts of Mexico and Cuba.
It plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy, harboring numerous ports for business, and is a popular fishing destination.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo threw cold water at Trump’s call to rename the gulf in January, sarcastically proposing that the U.S. be renamed “Mexican America.” After Google had renamed the gulf in its maps following Trump’s executive order, Sheinbaum Pardo threatened legal action against the tech giant in February.
“It’s time to codify President Trump’s executive order into law,” Greene wrote in a post on X last week. “It’s OUR gulf, let’s make the name permanent!”
House Rules Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said during a hearing on Monday that Greene’s bill “recognizes the strategic influence America has over this geography, not to mention the existing economic, cultural, and commercial might that we passively exert on the gulf.”
“The necessary renaming made by the president did not end the world as some would like us to believe nor did it cause a single bit of harm to the American people,” she said.
But Democrats have railed against Greene’s bill.
“Insanity,” said Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo. “I can’t believe this is where we are spending our time.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said, “Prices are going up. People’s 401K’s are being decimated, and they want to rename the Gulf of Mexico, which isn’t even going to work. The rest of the world is going to call it the Gulf of Mexico.”
The bill will likely not pass in the Senate. Seven Democrats will need to join Republicans to clear a 60-vote threshold and advance it to a final vote.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House passes bill to rename Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America
