It has only been a year since West Point replaced the Bibles in the academy's Cadet Chapel with "United States Military Academy West Point, New York" in gold embossing — but Army Secretary Dan Driscoll already wants new ones that include the coat of arms for the school.
Despite President Donald Trump's administration complaining of "waste, fraud and abuse" of taxpayer dollars, Driscoll is demanding the government spend $10,000 on the new Bibles to replace those from last year, Military.com reporter Steve Beynon wrote on X.
Driscoll announced in a statement that removing the "crests" in last year's version was "yet another example of the previous administration pushing far-left politics into our military institutions."
The decision to redo the Bibles came about after the far-right group Judicial Watch requested information on why the coat of arms was removed, FoxNews.com reported last week. It has yet to get an answer.
The coat of arms has an eagle, a sword, and a helmet. It reads "Duty, honor, country. West Point." There's nothing religious or political in the coat of arms.
An archive of meeting minutes from cadets elected to represent the school in its version of a student council shows that each class has its own crest with its own class motto. The motto is proposed during basic training and the cadets vote on which they prefer. That class motto and crest design is put on class rings, banners, and other items, as a 2007 page shows.
Military.com reported, "Removing the crests wasn't the result of some left-wing purge. Those Bibles were decades old and falling apart, multiple defense officials with direct knowledge of the situation told Military.com."
The new design aimed to save money with simpler designs.
"The new editions, part of a fresh order of Bibles last year, omitted the ornate West Point crest as an easy means of saving money and still bore the words 'United States Military Academy West Point, New York' in gold embossing," reported Military.com.
"This wasn't a controversy until someone decided to make it one," said a senior Army official. "This type of stuff is damaging our organization."