The House and Senate Armed Services Committee chairmen announced on Thursday they were "very concerned" about a recent report the Defense Department was considering changes to the military's presence in Europe and Japan.
According to NBC News, the Trump administration is considering consolidating or cutting certain military commands in Europe and Japan. According to the outlet, the Trump administration is considering giving up the role of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and reversing a planned military expansion in Japan in order to save taxpayer money. President Donald Trump has repeatedly complained on the campaign trail and in office about allies who rely too much on America for their own defense.
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a joint statement regarding press reports suggesting that the United States might soon change its entire combatant command structure, withdraw from NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) command structure, and cancel modernization plans for U.S. Forces Japan that "U.S. combatant commands are the tip of the American warfighting spear. Therefore, we are very concerned about reports that claim DoD 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."
"We support President Trump's efforts to ensure our allies and partners increase their contributions to strengthen our alliance structure, and we support continuing America's leadership abroad. As such, we will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress. Such moves risk undermining American deterrence around the globe and detracting from our negotiating positions with America's adversaries," Wicker and Rogers said on Thursday.
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