A quartet of senators launched a new bipartisan effort on Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump from withdrawing the United States from NATO without the prior approval of the Senate, the latest effort to constrain the president from upending U.S. policy regarding Russia.
The bill would require the president to secure the support of two-thirds of the Senate — the same threshold required to enter into a treaty — before he could withdraw from the nearly 70-year-old alliance.
The bill also authorizes the Senate’s legal counsel to represent the body in any court cases needed to prevent a withdrawal from NATO without the Senate’s approval.
The measure was drafted by Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., both of whom sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., also have signed on to the measure as leading co-sponsors.
“Regrettably, President Trump’s mistreatment of our closest allies has raised doubts about America’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the values of defense,” McCain said in a statement. McCain, despite presently undergoing treatment for a serious form of brain cancer, remains Congress’ most respected statesman and has been a frequent critic of the president’s stance regarding NATO and Russia.
“This legislation is urgently required to ensure that no president can withdraw the United States from NATO without the constitutionally required advice and consent of the Senate,” he continued.
While Senate consent is required to enter into treaties, the Constitution is silent on the question of how the United States is supposed to exit a treaty. Article 13 of the NATO treaty does address the question of when countries may exit — any country may leave the treaty one year after giving a “notice of denunciation” to the United States, which is then supposed to inform every other member — but it does not specify what national authority has the power to issue that notice of denunciation.
Trump has not publicly threatened to pull the U.S. from NATO, and at this month’s summit in Brussels, he signed on to various efforts to counter the Kremlin and rededicate the U.S. to the organization’s collective defense. But he also has repeatedly voiced doubts about the strategic importance of the organization, haranguing allies for not dedicating more funding ahead of schedule and even questioning its continued relevance, as he makes a series of unorthodox overtures to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, Trump even said on Twitter that a summit with Putin in Helsinki “may prove to be, in the long run, an even greater success” than his just-completed meetings with NATO allies.