President is Prohibited from Unilateral NATO Withdrawal under Newly Passed Defense Bill
The president can’t withdraw from NATO without authorization from the Senate or use Congress-approved funds to explore a potential withdrawal. A new measure in the newly passed defense bill bars any U.S. president from unilaterally withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The measure, which was passed in the Senate by 65-28 back in July, has been added as an amendment to the newly passed 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (2024 NDAA). The 2024 NDAA has been sent to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law after it was passed in the Senate on Wednesday night and House one day after. The measure, also known as “Kaine Amendment No. 429,” was first introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in March 2022 and reintroduced in July 2023 before it was added to the 2024 NDAA. “The President shall not suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty … except by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or pursuant to an Act of Congress,” read the amendment. It goes further to prohibit using any Congress-approved funds to explore, directly or indirectly, a similar decision. Instead, the president should notify the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and its House counterpart in advance about any consideration of withdrawing from NATO. Meanwhile, legal counsels from the Senate or House could be authorized to launch legal challenges to stop any potential withdrawal by the president. Senators Kaine and Rubio applauded the passage of the amendment. “NATO has held strong in response to Putin’s war in Ukraine and rising challenges around the world,” Sen. Kaine said. “The Senate’s vote today to pass my bipartisan bill to prevent any U.S. president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO reaffirms U.S. support for this crucial alliance that is foundational for our national security. It also sends a strong message to authoritarians around the world that the free world remains united.”
“The Senate should maintain oversight on whether or not our nation withdraws from NATO. We must ensure we are protecting our national interests and protecting the security of our democratic allies,” Sen. Rubio said. Current U.S. laws require congressional authorization for the United States to join international treaties, but it’s not clear if the president needs similar approval to withdraw from one. Then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement in November 2019 without authorization from Congress. The accord “cost the U.S. economy nearly $3 trillion in reduced output, over 6 million industrial jobs, and over 3 million manufacturing jobs,” the Trump administration said in June 2017. It’s unclear if this measure is targeting any potential 2024 presidential winner. However, it’s widely speculated that it’s put in place in case former President Donald Trump wins another term in 2024 and moves to withdraw from NATO afterward. President Trump didn’t say anything about withdrawing from NATO during his presidency. Neither does he hint that he will withdraw from the mutual defense group if he’s elected in 2024. On the contrary, he pushed to double NATO members’ spending target from 2 percent of GDP. However, Mr. Trump did cast doubt on defending Montenegro which joined NATO in 2019. Montenegro is a country in southeast Europe with a small population of around 620,000 people.
President Biden is a strong supporter of the mutual defense mechanism of NATO, especially after Russia invaded Ukraine. The United States invested more in the organization and worked positively in securing membership for Finland and full accession for Sweden during Joe Biden’s presidency. Key Takeaways in the 2024 NDAA The $886.3 billion defense bill earmarks $841.5 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD)—nearly $32 billion more than last year’s defense bill, $32.26 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, and $12.1 billion in defense-related allocations for other federal agencies. It also includes a 5.2 percent pay raise for service members, $145 billion for research into artificial intelligence and hypersonics, investments in Space Force, and other items. The bill has a four-month extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) Section 702 which will expire on Dec. 31.
House Armed Forces Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said extending it to mid-April provides time to reform FISA while not handcuffing intelligence agencies. FISA Section 702 allows intelligence agencies to intercept foreign communications without warrants. It provides a “back door” to ferret through Americans’ conversations with foreign nationals, conservatives argue.
The NDAA incorporates most of a House-adopted amendment to reinstate 8,600 service members discharged for refusing the DOD-mandated COVID-19 vaccine. To qualify, discharged veterans must be within two years of separation and have requested an exemption. The NDAA also requires the DOD to conduct a study evaluating the health effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, establish a board to review the discharges and track down to query those discharged about reenlisting within the next six months. The defense bill appropriates $300 million in both fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025—$600 million in total—to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) fund. Some House conservatives oppose funding Ukraine’s defense, claiming it is embroiling the United States into war with Russia and draining taxpayers already on the hook for the government’s $34 trillion debt. Mr. Rogers said Ukraine allocations will be audited by a special inspector general.
John Haughey contributed to this report.
