Congress wants to stop Trump troop withdrawal from Europe

The final version of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets Defense Department policy priorities for the next year, would place obstacles to any effort to reduce the U.S. troop presence in Europe.

Released Sunday, the package, a compromise between the previous House and Senate NDAA versions, would prevent the Pentagon from having fewer than 76,000 troops in Europe for longer than 45 days. After that period of time the secretary of defense and U.S. European Command leadership would have to show Congress that they have consulted NATO allies and their decision aligns with U.S. national security interests.

The measure stands in contrast with the Trump administration’s recently released National Security Strategy, which instead encourages Europeans to take responsibility for their defense needs, and follows lawmaker concerns that the Trump administration’s push to remove U.S. troops from Romania, could invite attack from Russia.

Mark Episkopos, research fellow in the Quincy Institute's Eurasia Program, told RS the measure obstructs ongoing U.S. efforts to change its relationship with Europe.

“The very appearance of a lack of disunity in Washington over the necessity of Europe taking charge of its own defense is a moral hazard insofar as it incentivizes Europe to play for time rather than working with the administration to come up with a strategy for real burden sharing,” he said. “The White House should make clear to Europe that retrenchment is a fixed strategic direction that will be reflected on all levels of U.S. policy going forward."

The NDAA also authorizes $8 billion more in defense spending than what the Pentagon requested for FY 2026. That boosted topline number is a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the NDAA, where the House version kept to the Pentagon’s budget request, and the Senate version requested $32 billion more.

The NDAA also would repeal the 2002 and 1991 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) in Iraq, moves that those pushing for greater congressional control of U.S. foreign policy decisions have long-advocated for. President Trump cited the 2002 AUMF as the legal basis for the strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

But the 2001 AUMF, most frequently cited as the legal basis for U.S. counterterrorism operations abroad over the previous two decades, is not on the chopping block.

The NDAA also extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides military assistance to Ukraine, with $400 million for both FY26 and FY27.