Congress added a provision to the NDAA blocking any president from withdrawing the US from NATO without congressional approval.
The provision was included in the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill detailing defense policy, which was passed by the House on Thursday and is awaiting the signature of President Biden.
Under the measure, advocated by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the president would be prohibited from withdrawing from NATO without the approval of two-thirds of the Senate or separate legislation passed by Congress.
Were MAGA House Republicans in such a hurry to approve the Biden impeachment investigation and go on holiday vacation that they had no idea what they were voting for?
Trump’s MAGA House allies probably didn’t know that they were voting to limit presidential power and kill one of Trump’s biggest foreign policy dreams.
Less than two months ago, Trump was reportedly privately expressing his desire to pull the US out of NATO entirely if he returned to the White House.
The dismantling of NATO is a dream of Putin’s. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in more countries near Russia, including neighboring Ukraine, applying for NATO membership. NATO has gotten stronger since Russia invaded Ukraine, and a Trump victory was Putin’s best hope to stop the alliance.
There will never be enough votes in the Senate to withdraw the United States from NATO, so another element of Trump’s plot to weaken democracy has been stopped by Congress.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association