His criticism and sharp questions about any potential reduction in U.S. support to NATO and Ukraine were a running theme throughout the hearing by both Republicans and Democrats.
The Pentagon hasn't made any such plans public, but President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have both made it clear they want NATO to do more to defend its own region and that the U.S. is turning to focus more on China and America's own southern border.
The U.S. also has dropped its leadership role in the broad effort to coordinate military support for Ukraine and given the helm to the British. Both steps have worried allies, who fear the U.S. is stepping away from its long-held commitment to Europe and NATO.
It was not immediately clear what “mid-level bureaucrats” Wicker was talking about. But he warned that “they’ve been working to pursue a U.S. retreat from Europe and they’ve often been doing so without coordinating with the secretary of defense.”
The number of U.S. troops in Europe increased by about 20,000 under Democratic President Joe Biden in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They helped with training, logistics of weapons shipments and, in general, reassured allies on NATO's eastern flank that the United States would defend them.
There have been roughly 100,000 troops there since, including the Navy’s 6th Fleet, as well as nuclear warheads. U.S. firepower ensures that NATO’s ability to deter Russia is credible.
NATO allies have expressed concern about any reduction of American troops or support in the region.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Brussels this week seeking to reassure NATO allies about the American commitment to the alliance under Trump.
That military reassurance had been almost immediately put into question by Hegseth, who used his first visit to NATO and the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in February to tell allies that the U.S. would be reassessing troop levels with an eye toward focusing more on China.
Hegseth told allies he was there “to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe.”
Trump has tried to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, but so far that effort has faltered.
Under questioning from senators, Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. European Command and the supreme allied commander Europe, said a potential plan by the Trump administration to relinquish the allied commander position to another nation could create problems for control over the U.S. nuclear weapons and the tens of thousands of American troops based and deployed across the continent.
A U.S. general has long held the post of allied commander, a position that oversees all NATO military plans and decisions. And the U.S. is often the largest troop contributor to NATO operations. Similarly, the Pentagon has not made public any proposal to step back from the position.
“I think that would bring some challenges in terms of nuclear command and control. It would put us in a position where, in an Article Five situation, we could have for the first time since the First World War large numbers of American troops under non-U.S. command," Cavoli said, referring to NATO's Article Five collective defense pledge in which an attack against one allied nation is considered an attack against all.
“I think those are things that would have to be considered carefully,” Cavoli said, calling any plan to give up the leadership role “problematic.”
He also noted that NATO allies are investing in their militaries “at a rate we haven’t seen since the end of the Cold War. A 40% increase in spending since February of 2022.”
He said the presence of U.S. troops in Europe has been essential to NATO’s transformation and modernization efforts and is also critical to America's national defense.
On Ukraine, Cavoli warned against any reduction in the U.S. provision of weapons or intelligence to Kyiv's war effort.
“It would obviously have a rapid and deleterious effect on their ability to fight,” said Cavoli, adding that Ukraine depends on the U.S. for larger anti-aircraft and missile defense systems. “If the Ukrainians were not able to receive intelligence from us, they would struggle to target, especially in-depth operational level targets such as command posts., logistics areas and things like that.”
More broadly, he said that Ukrainian forces are holding territory inside Russia in the Kursk region and that Moscow has lost about 4,000 tanks in the war — which would be nearly the total of the U.S. inventory.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP