President Donald Trump is expected to sign a new defense bill into law after the Senate Wednesday approved the sweeping document, which runs to more than 3,000 pages.
The bill defines Pentagon policy for the next fiscal year and puts pressure on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to share footage of U.S. strikes close to Venezuela.
Why It Matters
Wrapped up in the bill, the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), are limits on how much the Pentagon can scale back the number of U.S. forces in Europe and a block on the U.S. military surrendering the position of NATO Supreme Commander Europe (SACEUR) without strong justification.
European countries have long awaited decisions from Washington on how much the U.S. will roll back its footprint in Europe, and the U.S. military said in late October one of the U.S. Army brigades in Europe “would redeploy as scheduled to their Kentucky-based home unit without replacement.”
NBC News reported back in March the Pentagon was considering relinquishing the SACEUR position, which has been held by the U.S. for decades. Senior Republicans as well as Democrats responded with alarm.
The NDAA also contains a provision to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon chief provides lawmakers with full, unedited footage of a highly scrutinized U.S. strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel on September 2. Hegseth has said he will not publicly release the footage.
What To Know
Included in the more-than-$900 billion bill, which had broad bipartisan support when it passed through the House earlier this month, are restrictions on the U.S. chopping down its troop numbers in Europe, pay raises for U.S. military personnel by almost 4 percent and continued funding for Ukraine.
The NDAA also greenlights $175 million in funding for a program designed to help Baltic states procure U.S. military equipment. The Financial Times reported in September the administration was weighing up cutting the initiative.
The provisions somewhat jar with the administration’s recently-released National Security Strategy (NSS), which criticized Europe for what the administration called “economic decline” and the “real and more stark prospect of
civilizational erasure.”
“It is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies,” the strategy document said. The publication received a cold reception from many of the U.S.’s European allies and was welcomed by Russia. The NDAA, however, takes a much more critical stance toward Moscow.
The U.S. attacked an alleged drug vessel in the southern Caribbean on September 2, kicking off a monthslong campaign the administration has framed as a crackdown on drug smuggling into the U.S. It later emerged that two people had initially survived the first strike and were then killed, raising serious questions about whether the two survivors had legal protections from harm as shipwrecked persons and prompting closer congressional scrutiny.
Congress received a briefing from the administration on Tuesday, and Admiral Frank Bradley, the commander who oversaw the September 2 operation, appeared before the House and Senate Armed Services committees the following day.
Republicans largely emerged from the Tuesday briefing seemingly satisfied with the administration’s rationale, while Democrats continued to vocally express concerns about the strike campaign.
What People Are Saying
Republican Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Wednesday: “The bill sets us on a path to modernize our defense capabilities and augment our drone manufacturing, shipbuilding efforts, and the development of innovative low-cost weapons.”
