Sponsors (2)
Introduced February 4, 2025 by Thomas Bryant Cotton · Last progress February 4, 2025
The bill standardizes U.S. government terminology to a Congress-preferred historic name—reducing statutory ambiguity and aligning agency language with congressional intent—at the cost of diplomatic friction, administrative burden, and potential legal and social pushback.
Federal, state, and local agencies will adopt a single statutory and operational geographic name ('Judea and Samaria'), reducing legal ambiguity and making implementation of programs, trade, and policy toward the area more consistent.
Federal employees and agency communications will align with the Congress-stated preference for historic nomenclature, fulfilling congressional intent and providing clearer guidance for internal usage.
The Secretary of State can waive the naming requirement with 30 days' congressional notice, allowing case-by-case exceptions to avoid breaching treaty or agreement obligations and preserving diplomatic flexibility.
U.S. diplomacy could be strained: foreign partners (including Palestinian authorities and allied governments) may view the renaming as a political signal, complicating negotiations and relations in the region.
Federal agencies and employees will face immediate compliance and communication burdens—updating documents, guidance, and programs—which may produce modest costs for taxpayers and disrupt normal operations.
The change could prompt legal and political challenges against the executive branch over constraints on official wording and administrative actions, raising litigation risk and partisan disputes.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Changes U.S. government terminology and statutory text to use "Judea and Samaria" instead of "West Bank" and restricts most federal funds from equating the terms without waiver.
Requires federal agencies and many federal statutes to replace use of the term "West Bank" with the historical names "Judea and Samaria," and prohibits most federal funds from preparing or issuing materials that refer to "Judea and Samaria" as the "West Bank." The Secretary of State may waive that prohibition for U.S. interests with a 30‑day notice to Congress. The bill also makes conforming, textual changes across multiple federal statutes to replace occurrences of "West Bank" with "Judea and Samaria."