The US Senate Wants to Legally Prevent Trump from Germany Troops Withdrawing

US senators from both parties proposed legislatively limiting the use of budget funds aimed at withdrawing the US military from Germany. A number of US Senate representatives from both parties are trying to thwart President Donald Trump’s intention to reduce the number of US troops in Germany by 9,500. Republican senators Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio and their Democratic counterparts Christopher Koons, Timothy Kane and Genie Sheikhin on Monday, June 29, introduced an amendment to the National Defense Policy Financing Act (NDAA). It restricts the use of budgetary funds for withdrawal of military personnel implementation measures. In particular, the authors of the innovation propose that the US Secretary of Defense be obliged to submit a report to Congress and explain how such a reduction in the contingent is consistent with US national interests and whether it threatens the security of European NATO members. " Russia’s Gift " and " NATO undermining " The possible withdrawal of some American soldiers and officers from Germany “will be a gift to Russia,” it “undermines the North Atlantic Alliance” and also presents “serious challenges in terms of logistics,” Romney emphasized. It’s unacceptable to “give up obligations” to NATO allies, he added. His colleague Rubio described the current geopolitical situation as a time when the US and its European allies "should stand shoulder to shoulder in countering malicious influence." At the same time, the senator did not specify what he had in mind. The presence of US troops in the Federal Republic of Germany is in the interests of US national security, he concluded. Reductions in the number of US troops in Germany, carried out without consultations with official Berlin or other Washington allies in Europe, does not put the United States in a safer position, Senator Koons says. According to him, "a hasty and rash withdrawal of troops only gives confidence to the adversaries" of the United States. On June 15, President Donald Trump reiterated his intention to reduce the number of US troops in Germany to 25,000. The decision is due to the fact that Berlin "did not fulfill obligations" to finance NATO, Trump explained then.