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Publication Date

4-12-2026

Abstract

Since the start of his second term, President Trump has issued executive orders at an extraordinary pace, using them to advance a broader ideological agenda across the administrative state. While scholarly attention has largely focused on the most sweeping of these directives, less prominent orders raise similar concerns about the reach of presidential power. This Note examines one such order: Executive Order 14,172, which directs the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali and expands presidential influence over the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN).

Although geographic naming is ostensibly apolitical, place names are deeply entangled with questions of power and ideology. For nearly a century, the BGN has established uniform usage of place names across the federal government through a deliberate, expertise-driven process designed to reflect local sentiment and resist political controversy. Executive Order 14,172 bypasses that process, and current law does little to prevent it.

Against this backdrop, this Note argues that existing law provides insufficient safeguards against presidential interference in geographic naming. Drawing on the history of geographic naming, it demonstrates how place names have been used by governments to promote ideology and signal control. It then examines the BGN’s history and structure and considers whether the President has the statutory authority to override its decisions, and whether such authority is normatively justified under the unitary executive theory. Situating the BGN alongside other knowledge-producing agencies, the Note concludes that extending unilateral presidential control over place naming would invert the political accountability rationale behind a unitary executive and risk transforming naming into a tool of ideological messaging.

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