Does the President have the power to change the name of a military vessel? Asking for a friend...
Probably not. Besides, every sailor knows that changing a vessels name is an invitation to bad luck for that vessel. Forever.
I don’t know, but re-christening a warship is considered a death sentence for the ship herself, meaning it will be destroyed/sunk in accidents/battle.
This happened in US history: WW2 the “Jeep” carrier USS Midway was re-christened the USS St. Lo and she was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Renaming a warship (within the same navy) is a serious no-no.
McCain disrespected his Commander in Chief, subverted efforts to control the border, voted for Obamacare, criticized all efforts to support and defend the nation while in the US Senate. I doubt there could be any bad luck worse than calling a ship after the unmitigated disaster that was John McCain.
Yes. He’s CINC.
Why would he? It wasn’t named after his political foe john mccain. This smells like fake news. Everyone knows this ship isn’t named after him.
Interesting question. Read on another FR post that the ship, originally named in honor of McCain's father, a highly respected admiral and WWII hero, was "renamed" (repurposed?) in honor of John. If the Navy itself was authorized take such action one would hope the Navy's boss had the same authority.
Whether the WH request indeed politicized the Navy is a question best left for those who are the closest to the issue. Most know by now that Trump is nowhere near as inept or clumsy as Obama and is unlikely to rename the ship. He might, however, invite as a group any of the top Navy officers who may have thought they could lecture him to lunch in the WH.
The ship was originally named after John S. McCain, Sr., and John S. McCain, Jr., both admirals in the US Navy. But I guess that since the hero songbird has the same name, he got included somehow, after the fact.