WASHINGTON – Chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers urged against the Pentagon’s reported plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Europe during a hearing Tuesday on U.S. military posture there.
The Department of Defense is considering withdrawing up to 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe as the war in Ukraine rages on, NBC News reported. The Pentagon is also reportedly considering giving up the United States’ role of NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, which has overseen the U.S. support of Ukraine in its war against Russia, NBC News also reported.
In his opening statement, Rogers, R-Saks, offered a rebuke of the Trump administration and its efforts to reorganize the U.S. combatant command structure. Rogers said he wants Congress to be involved with any decisions changing troop levels.
“Given these threats, I’m concerned by reports that some at DoD are considering not only giving up NATO Command, but also significantly reducing our posture in Europe,” Rogers said.
Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the commander of U.S. European Command, said the U.S. should continue to keep troops in the region at the same levels it has since the war in Ukraine started in 2022.
“I have consistently recommended throughout that period to maintain the forces we surged forward, and I would continue to do so now if asked,” Cavoli said.
The U.S. has roughly 80,000 troops in Europe after President Joe Biden directed 20,000 more to the region to protect against Russia’s aggression in its war in Ukraine.
Rogers asked Cavoli how the U.S. force posture in Europe is critical to protecting the U.S. homeland.
“The bases that we have in Europe and the legal permissions we have with nations hosting us give us the ability to project power quickly in our interest on behalf of our U.S. unilateral interest,” Cavoli said.
Katherine Thompson, performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, would not directly say if she agreed with the assessment that it is necessary to maintain troop levels in Europe.
“The department right now is undergoing a global force posture review and so we are taking into account not only the dynamics in (U.S. European Command) but in all of our theaters and evaluating that based on President Trump’s stated interest and us sizing our force and our resources appropriately to that,” Thompson said.
Appearing unsatisfied with Thompson’s answer, Rogers reasserted his belief in not wanting to withdraw troops from Europe at this time.
“You should be focused on maintaining the surge posture that we’ve had in Europe since the conflict was started by Russia, for the foreseeable future,” Rogers said.
During his opening statement, Rogers also emphasized that cutting the U.S. presence in Europe “would only weaken our leverage with Putin.”
However, the chairman did thank President Donald Trump for pushing European countries to invest more in defense spending and said he agreed with Trump’s efforts to “stop the bloodshed” in the war in Ukraine.
On reports that the U.S. is giving up its role of NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Thompson said “my definitive answer is no.”