This legislation, known as the "Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act," aims to prevent the renaming of the Great Lakes by federal government officials. It explicitly prohibits the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and any federal employee from altering the official geographic names of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario. A key provision of the bill is the nullification of Executive Order 14422 , issued on August 27, 2026, which proposed renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America." The bill declares this executive order to have no force or effect. Furthermore, the legislation broadly prohibits any federal officer or employee from issuing, implementing, administering, or enforcing Executive Order 14422 or any substantially similar executive action. It also explicitly forbids the use of any federal funds for the purpose of implementing, administering, or giving effect to such renaming efforts.
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Timeline
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act
USA119th CongressHR-10186| House
| Updated: 8/31/2026
This legislation, known as the "Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act," aims to prevent the renaming of the Great Lakes by federal government officials. It explicitly prohibits the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and any federal employee from altering the official geographic names of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario. A key provision of the bill is the nullification of Executive Order 14422 , issued on August 27, 2026, which proposed renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America." The bill declares this executive order to have no force or effect. Furthermore, the legislation broadly prohibits any federal officer or employee from issuing, implementing, administering, or enforcing Executive Order 14422 or any substantially similar executive action. It also explicitly forbids the use of any federal funds for the purpose of implementing, administering, or giving effect to such renaming efforts.