I'm interested in figurative language and metonymy in particular. Sometimes it seems hard to tell if a term qualifies as a metonym or would be considered linguistically "literal." Here's an example snippet paraphrased from a news article.

The White House opposed the plan...

Washington opposed the plan...

The U.S. opposed the plan...

The White House is commonly cited as a metonym for the U.S. government. It's the type of metonym "where one thing contains another." Washington is also used this way, using a broader structure to describe the same thing.

If we go even wider in scope, we get to The U.S. Does "The U.S." qualify as a metonym in this context? It seems to function like one, but references to certain aspects of a country by using the country's name seem so common that it sounds odd to think of that as figurative language.