Newsman: 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.
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.
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 rejected the Trump’s idea and , sarcastically proposed that the U.S. be renamed “Mexican American.” 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!”
