Pulling troops out of Germany

The Pentagon will begin shifting thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany “within weeks” and move the headquarters of U.S. European Command from the country to Belgium, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced on Wednesday.

Some 11,900 personnel will be moved from Germany, taking U.S. forces there from 36,000 to 24,000. Roughly 5,600 of the troops will be repositioned elsewhere in Europe — including Belgium, Italy, Poland and “opportunities to put forces into the Baltics” — while some 6,400 would come back to the United States.

  The Hill

Lawmakers in both parties are panning the Trump administration’s plan to pull nearly 12,000 U.S. troops out of Germany.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) blasted the move as a “grave error,” while Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said President Trump shows a “lack of strategic understanding.” “Once more, now with feeling: U.S. troops aren’t stationed around the world as traffic cops or welfare caseworkers – they’re restraining the expansionary aims of the world’s worst regimes, chiefly China and Russia,” Sasse said in a statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin “are reckless – and this withdrawal will only embolden them,” Sasse added. “We should be leading our allies against China and Russia, not abandoning them. Withdrawal is weak."

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But Trump has repeatedly cast the move as punishment for Germany not fulfilling NATO’s goal of countries spending at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.

On Wednesday, moments after Esper argued the drawdown is about strategy, Trump reiterated that he is doing it to penalize Berlin.

  The Hill

Every. Single. Time.

[Senator Mitt] Romney offered an amendment to the Senate’s version of the annual defense policy bill that sought to prevent a Germany withdrawal, but the measure was not granted a vote.

The House’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), though, does include a bipartisan amendment aimed at blocking a drawdown by requiring several certifications before it can move forward. The two versions of the bill now need to be reconciled.