Senate committee passes bipartisan bill to stop Trump withdrawing from Nato
Senate foreign relations committee voted unanimously for bill which will now await a slot to go to the Senate
Senate foreign relations committee voted unanimously for bill which will now await a slot to go to the Senate
Legislation to stop Donald Trump from withdrawing the US from Nato has been approved for a Senate vote, amid uncertainty over the president’s intentions towards the alliance.
The Senate foreign relations committee on Wednesday voted unanimously for the bipartisan bill which will now await a slot to go to the Senate. Senator Tim Kaine, the draft legislation’s lead Democratic sponsor, said it was a
response to fears that the Trump administration is actively considering withdrawal.“We’re aware that it has been seriously debated and seriously considered in the White House at the highest levels,” Kaine told.
Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, reportedly warned last month that, if re-elected in 2020, Trump could go “full isolationist” and withdraw from the 70-year-old North Atlantic alliance.
Kaine predicted his bill to block a Nato withdrawal would gain overwhelming support from the House of Representatives and win a veto-proof majority in the upper chamber of at least 67 votes.
“I don’t think [Trump] would veto this bill if it came to his desk because of the signal that it would send would be such an unfortunate one,” Kaine told the Guardian. “It would be seen as so destabilizing by our allies that I don’t think he would do it.
And furthermore, I don’t think the president would veto a bill if he thought he’s going to be overridden, and I think he would be overridden on this one.”The bill aims to close a loophole in the US constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate to ratify a treaty,
but is silent on what it takes to exit a treaty. Kaine’s bill requires the president to seek the advice and consent of the Senate to pull the US out of Nato. The president would have to notify Congress of any effort taken towards termination of US membership,
and any no congressionally mandated funds could be spent on withdrawal. Congressional legal counsel would be authorized to challenge the White House in the courts over any presidential attempt to withdraw.
“It specifies clearly, that the the law of the land will now be that a president cannot withdraw from Nato absent a congressional vote,” Kaine said.
“So he could announce he was withdrawing, but that would be an illegal action, and we would feel completely confident that a court would uphold us.”
