Apache helicopters at Camp Humphreys, a sprawling U.S. base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has handed an annual protection coverage invoice that features a measure to limit the federal government from unilaterally lowering the present troop stage of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), per week after the Home of Representatives accepted it.
The higher chamber accepted the Nationwide Protection Authorization Act for fiscal yr 2026 in a 77-20 vote Wednesday. The invoice will turn out to be legislation after U.S. President Donald Trump indicators it following the Senate approval.
The invoice says that quantities licensed underneath the act will not be obligated or expended to scale back U.S. troops in South Korea, although it leaves open the door for the usage of the funds following the certification that the USFK troop discount is within the U.S. nationwide safety curiosity and that the motion is being undertaken solely after acceptable consultations with allies, together with South Korea.
Additionally, with out such a certification, funds allotted underneath the act will not be expended to finish the transition of wartime operational management from america to South Korea in a fashion that deviates from a bilateral settlement, the invoice says.
The measure to limit the USFK troop drawdown reappeared within the invoice for the primary time in 5 years. It was included within the NDAA through the first Trump administration in a transfer to assist forestall a unilateral troop drawdown.
The invoice authorizes $901 billion in navy spending for the upcoming fiscal yr.
Congress passes it every year to set protection coverage and funding priorities and provides steering on a variety of key safety issues.
