Top senator criticizes Pentagon ‘mid-level’ leaders on troop level plan in Europe
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee criticized Pentagon “mid-level” leadership for what he said Thursday was a misguided plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops based in Europe. The Defense Department, however, has not made public any proposal to cut force levels there.
“There are some who believe now is the time to reduce drastically our military footprint in Europe,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said at a hearing with U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command military leadership.
“I’m troubled at those deeply misguided and dangerous views held by some mid-level bureaucrats within the Defense Department,” Wicker said. “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.”
It was not immediately clear what “mid-level bureaucrats” Wicker was talking about.
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 Republican President Donald Trump.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives for a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in foreign ministers format at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, April 3, 2025. Credit: AP/Virginia Mayo
That military reassurance had been almost immediately put into question by Defense Secretary Pete 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.
Trump has tried to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine but so far that effort has faltered.
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