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Senators raise bill to prevent Trump from leaving NATO

By Ray Downs
A group of senators proposed a bill Thursday that would require the president of the United States to obtain permission from the Senate to withdraw from NATO, an issue spurred by President Donald Trump's visit to Belgium this month. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
A group of senators proposed a bill Thursday that would require the president of the United States to obtain permission from the Senate to withdraw from NATO, an issue spurred by President Donald Trump's visit to Belgium this month. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

July 26 (UPI) -- A bipartisan group of senators proposed a bill Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump from exiting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization without the Senate's consent.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Tim Kaine, D-Va. presented the legislation, which says the president may only withdraw from NATO "pursuant to the advice and consent of the Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators concur, or pursuant to an act of Congress."

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At the NATO summit in Belgium this month, Trump floated the idea of withdrawing the United States from the alliance if the other members don't start picking up more of their fiscal share of the organization's defense budget. He subsequently said that likely wouldn't be necessary, as he said other members pledged to boost their spending.

Only five of the 29 member nations spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on NATO defense, leading Trump to criticize them as "freeloaders."

Trump's talk about leaving NATO so unnerved some lawmakers that they introduced the safeguard to prevent Trump or any future president from doing so.

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"As the Constitution requires and this legislation reaffirms, any change proposed by this administration or future administrations regarding America's standing in this alliance can be done only with the advice and consent of the Senate," Gardner said in a statement.

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