Yes, NC’s Republicans voted to change Fort Bragg back to Fort Liberty
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Good morning! It’s Danielle Battaglia, here with the latest edition of Under the Dome focused on the Trump administration.
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When President Donald Trump ran for office in 2024, he campaigned on renaming the military installation in Fayetteville back to Fort Bragg from Fort Liberty.
During the 2024 campaign season, Republican lawmakers, like Richard Hudson, Fort Bragg’s representative, refused to call the base by the moniker the Biden administration gave it to separate the base from its Confederate namesake.
Then in February 2025, Trump upheld his campaign promise when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum directing a change back to Fort Bragg, but this time honoring a World War II soldier.
Before I write the next line, it’s important to note, as I said in a previous newsletter, I still have no true feelings about what the name should be. I think that should be left to people who have a stake in it.
But I couldn’t help but find it ironic that North Carolina’s Republicans voted last week in support of the National Defense Authorization Act, a defense policy and funding bill passed annually by Congress. The NDAA includes a provision that changes back Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty; so essentially Republicans just voted to undo one of Trump’s campaign promises, and Democrats voted to uphold it.
Now, to be clear, it’s not actually fair to either party to say that’s why they voted for or against the bill. I would wager most of North Carolina’s delegation forgot that provision was even in there.
I wrote about it three weeks ago, and didn’t remember until my editor mentioned it.
The bill is 1,614 pages long. It sets the military’s 2027 budget and authorizes military construction and activities throughout the next fiscal year. Lawmakers wouldn’t be focused on one specific area within this bill when voting.
It’s also important to note that Republicans attached the SAVE America Act to the NDAA.
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That’s the legislation Trump is pushing that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and identification to cast a ballot. There are concerns that if it becomes law, the SAVE America Act could disenfranchise people, including women whose names on their birth certificates may not match the name on their driver’s licenses, due to marriage.
The Senate does not have enough Republican support to pass the SAVE America Act, so the House is attempting to jam it through by putting it into a bill that has to be passed in some iteration.
But back to Fort Bragg: Each time we change the name it costs taxpayers between $6 and $8 million.
This bill hasn’t passed the Senate yet, and with SAVE in it, I would wager this version won’t pass.
But it’s worth keeping an eye on.
That’s it for now. Be kind to each other. And check back tomorrow for the Under the Dome podcast.
If you have any feedback or tips for this edition of the newsletter feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected].
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This story was originally published July 27, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline “Yes, NC’s Republicans voted to change Fort Bragg back to Fort Liberty.”
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