The Republican chairs of the House and Senate armed services committees have issued a rare joint statement pushing back on reported Trump administration plans to dramatically alter U.S. military command structures worldwide in order to save money.
Rep. Mike Rogers (Ala.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.) responded to an NBC News report published Tuesday that suggested President Donald Trump and Pentagon officials were considering giving up the role of NATO supreme allied commander Europe, which has historically been held by an American, abandoning plans to modernize United States Forces Japan, and restructuring all combatant commands.
The pair insisted that any major changes would have to be made in close consultation with Congress and senior military personnel — or else risk imperiling the nation’s security and negotiating power.
“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,” Rogers and Wicker said in their statement.
A four-star U.S. general has served as supreme allied commander, a role also known as SACEUR, since Dwight D. Eisenhower took up the mantle in 1950.
If implemented, the changes would drastically shake up the post-World War II security landscape.
“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,” Rogers and Wicker said.
“As such,” they went on, “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.”
Both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have asserted that U.S. allies in Europe need to beef up their own defenses, with Trump repeatedly complaining that other NATO members have not met military spending goals set by the alliance. In the absence of an American SACEUR, NATO members would have to choose a new leader among themselves.
NBC News reported that the Trump administration was considering consolidating five of the 11 current combatant commands around the world, citing two defense officials familiar with the talks. The Pentagon could combine its European command with its African command, for example.
In Japan, the U.S. had planned to modernize forces maintained as part of a U.S.-Japan alliance, but that may also be abandoned.
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“Such moves risk undermining American deterrence around the globe and detracting from our negotiating positions with America’s adversaries,” Rogers and Wicker concluded.
