He issued the words of caution after reports that the Pentagon is looking at restructuring U.S. combatant commands and is studying a proposal for Washington to give up its long-held role as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe for the first time in the alliance's 75-year history.
“Weakening American leadership won’t strengthen NATO or U.S. interests. If we’re serious about encouraging more capable European allies, retreating from our position as the leader of the trans-Atlantic alliance would be an odd way to show it,” McConnell said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
McConnell warned at a press conference in Kentucky earlier this week that Russia and its allies, including China, continue to pose a serious risk to U.S. interests.
“What we want to avoid here is a headline that says, ‘Russia Wins and America Loses,’” McConnell told local reporters on the same day President Trump had a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He called on Congress to increase defense spending and for the United States to increase its commitment to NATO.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) a day earlier also pushed back on the possibility that the United States might give up military command of NATO.
“We are very concerned about reports that claim [the Defense Department] is considering unilateral changes on major strategic issues, including significant reductions to U.S. forces stationed abroad, absent coordination with the White House and Congress,” they said in a joint statement.
While the GOP chairs said they support Trump’s efforts to prod European allies to increase their defense spending, they warned that Congress must be a part of any major changes to combatant commands.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
