The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to formally change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, following President Donald Trump’s executive order, though the measure is unlikely to succeed in the Senate.
The House voted 211-206 to change the name of the body of water that borders five southeastern U.S. states and a major swath of Mexico and flows into the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Enshrining the name Gulf of America, if also approved by the Senate, would make it more difficult for a future president to tinker with Trump’s executive order.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, where it normally takes a super-majority of at least 60 votes to advance legislation.
The House bill is sponsored by firebrand Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vocal Trump supporter.
The water has been referred to as the Gulf of Mexico for more than 400 years and is internationally recognized as such. U.S. presidents have the power, however, to declare geographic names, which applies within federal government usage.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; editing by Diane Craft)