Congress Opposes Major Cuts to U.S. Troops in Europe and South Korea

The U.S. Congress is pushing to limit the Pentagon’s ability to withdraw American troops from Europe and South Korea.

Fox News reported this.

These measures are included in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the draft of which lawmakers recently finalized.

The final version of the bill is the result of lengthy negotiations between the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate from both parties, the heads of the armed services committees, and the White House.

It states that the United States may not reduce its forces in Europe below 76,000 without submitting detailed justifications and confirming to Congress that such a step would not harm U.S. or NATO security interests.

The bill also restricts reducing the number of troops in South Korea to below 28,500 personnel.

In addition, lawmakers require the United States to maintain its position as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the highest military post in the Alliance.

The draft National Defense Authorization Act for next year is expected to reach President Trump’s desk as early as this week.

It should be noted that these intentions were announced back in the summer of 2025, when the United States’ European NATO allies began preparing for a possible reduction or rotation of American troops on the continent.

As part of these U.S. actions, several countries privately urged the Alliance to accelerate negotiations to revise its defense plans.
NATO’s eastern flank was particularly concerned about the plans to withdraw U.S. forces, which would likely lead to immediate requests for reinforcements from other allies.

The withdrawal of American forces is also expected to affect major U.S. military bases in Germany and Italy, which have long served as key hubs for supporting forward military operations.

At the end of October, Romania’s Ministry of Defense announced that, as part of U.S. plans to reduce its presence, the United States would end the rotation of one of its brigades and leave up to 1,000 service members in the country as a permanent active contingent.