Don Bacon
“We don’t know what’s going on here.” Republicans harshly criticize the Pentagon for canceling troop deployments to Poland without any explanation. NATO is feared weakening.
Influential Republicans in the United States Congress harshly criticized the Pentagon for its recent decision to cancel the deployment of a US brigade to the Polandclose to 4 thousand soldiersa measure that caught European allies, legislators and, apparently, the Army leadership itself by surprise.
The decision, made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, halted a long-planned nine-month rotation that would involve the approximately 4,000 troops based in Texas. For several Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee, the retreat is a negative sign for Warsaw, for the Baltic allies and for Congress itself, which has defended the reinforcement of the North American military presence in Europe.
“It’s a slap in the face for Poland; it’s a slap in the face for our Baltic friends,” said Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska during a hearing with Army officials, according to . “It’s a slap in the face for this commission”, he concluded.
Lawmakers’ anger was compounded by the fact that the Army’s top civilian and military officials failed to provide a clear explanation for the decision. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Acting Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve acknowledged that the order was recent and would have been taken in recent weeks. According to LaNeve, Hegseth’s office instructed the commander of US European Command, General Alexus Grynkewich, to reduce troop levels on the continent.
The testimony appeared to contradict public Pentagon communication. The day before, interim spokesman Joel Valdez stated that the decision “was neither unexpected nor last minute”. Republican congressman Austin Scott of Georgia disputed this version, saying he did not see how the statement could be true, given the timetable described by military officials.
LaNeve further confirmed that some elements of the brigade and some of the equipment were already in Europe, or on the way, when the deployment was cancelled.
Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, also a Republican, also accused the administration of failing to comply with statutory consultation with Congress.
This is not the first time in recent days that the Trump administration and Republican advocates of a robust military posture in Europe have clashed.
In recent months, not replace a brigade that left Romania.
Although Donald Trump has praised Poland for its high defense spending, there are fears in Congress that these decisions weaken NATO. Democrat Adam Smith, a ranking member of the commission, argued that if there is a strategy behind the measure, military officials should be able to at least explain it to lawmakers.
