US Senate approves $901B defense budget bill

The US Senate on Wednesday delivered a clear rebuke of President Donald Trump's authority, signing off on legislation that could force the Pentagon to turn over footage of strikes against suspected drug smugglers and rein in the administration's ability to limit troops abroad, Report informs via Politico.

The annual defense policy bill cleared the chamber in a wide bipartisan vote after it passed the House last week. Trump is expected to sign the measure, despite the White House's misgivings with some provisions.

The 77-20 vote saw substantial support from Democrats and Republicans to push through the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act, the product of months of negotiations between leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services committees. Just two Republicans - Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky - broke ranks on the bill while 18 members of the Democratic caucus opposed it.

Lawmakers are using the sprawling policy bill to demand the Pentagon hand over unedited videos of strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats near Latin America. The bill restricts a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget until Congress receives the footage.

The bipartisan pressure campaign comes as lawmakers try to get wider access to footage of a Sept. 2 "double tap" strike that killed survivors of an initial attack against a vessel suspected of carrying narcotics. Most lawmakers still haven't seen the full footage of the strike, although members of the Senate and House Armed Services panels viewed it behind closed doors on Wednesday.

Lawmakers from both parties are concerned about the legality of the military campaign and have urged the Trump administration to publicly release footage of the incident. But Hegseth rejected those calls Tuesday after briefing senators on the boat strike effort. The Pentagon chief also sidestepped whether all members of Congress should get access to the videos.

Some members of Congress also worry the boat strikes could escalate into a full-on conflict with Venezuela. Trump ratcheted up the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday by ordering a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers going to and from the country.

The bill also reflects bipartisan angst at the Trump administration"s efforts to reshape US foreign policy and reconsider long-held US military commitments abroad.

It restricts the Pentagon from reducing the total number of US troops in Europe below 76,000 for more than 45 days until the Pentagon and the head of US European Command certify to lawmakers that the drawdown is in US interests and that NATO allies were consulted. The leaders also would need to provide assessments of that decision"s impact.

Lawmakers similarly restricted the Defense Department from shrinking the US military footprint in South Korea below 28,500 personnel, a downsizing the administration has reportedly weighed on the Korean Peninsula.

The bill also limits the U.S. from turning over the military role of NATO"s supreme allied commander in Europe, which has been held by the European Command chief for decades.

Those provisions contrast with the Trump administration"s new national security strategy, which criticizes European allies and suggests the continent is in cultural decline.

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who spearheaded the bill in the upper chamber, has for months clashed with the Trump administration over support for NATO and Ukraine. That includes a recent Pentagon decision to remove a rotational Army brigade from Romania, which Wicker and other defense hawks argued would undermine the transatlantic alliance and embolden Russia.

The bill also authorizes $400 million for Pentagon efforts to arm and equip Ukraine"s military, despite Trump"s attempts to pressure Kyiv to strike a deal with Moscow and end the war.

The legislation "reinforces alliances across Europe and the Indo-Pacific," said top Senate Armed Services Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island. And it "positions the Department of Defense to adapt to evolving threats while maintaining robust Congressional oversight."

Lawmakers also pushed back on Trump"s and Hegseth"s purge of the military"s senior ranks, including the ousting of Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown and other top leaders that began in February. The bill requires the Pentagon to notify Congress and provide a rationale when members of the Joint Chiefs, combatant commanders and judge advocates general are removed.

Republicans and the White House touted their own conservative wins, including provisions that codify a variety of Trump"s executive orders and repeal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Pentagon. The package also includes a bipartisan suite of acquisition reforms aimed at more quickly producing and fielding weapons and new technology.

The measure authorizes $901 billion for national security programs, including the Pentagon and nuclear weapons development overseen by the Energy Department. The price tag is $8 billion above the budget level proposed by Trump. But the bill only authorizes Defense Department programs, and lawmakers must still enact a full-year defense appropriations bill to fully fund those efforts.

"The bill sets us on a path to modernize our defense capabilities and augment our drone manufacturing, shipbuilding efforts, and the development of innovative low-cost weapons," Wicker said.

The measure also includes a long-sought win for critics of extensive presidential war powers. The defense agreement would repeal the 2002 and 1991 Iraq and Gulf War resolutions.