As NATO leaders gather for another summit, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced sweeping legislation to withdraw the United States from the alliance and force America’s allies to pay their share, accusing European nations of relying on U.S. taxpayers to fund their defense.
“America’s withdrawal from NATO is long overdue,” Lee said in a statement Wednesday. “NATO has run its course — the threats that existed at its inception are no longer relevant 76 years later. If they were, Europe would be paying their fair share instead of making American taxpayers pick up the check for decades. My legislation will put America first by withdrawing us from the raw deal NATO has become.”
Lee’s latest bill, the Not A Trusted Organization (NATO) Act, would direct the president to formally notify NATO of U.S. withdrawal under Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty, fulfill the requirement for congressional authorization, and prohibit U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding NATO’s common budgets — including its civil and military programs.
“It’s time to leave NATO,” Lee posted Wednesday on X.
The Utah senator also introduced two companion bills on Tuesday— the Allied Burden Sharing Report Act and the NATO Burden Sharing Report Act — aimed at exposing which allied nations are failing to contribute their promised share to collective defense. The legislation would require the Department of Defense to produce annual reports detailing each ally’s defense spending, troop readiness, and limitations placed on military contributions. The NATO-specific report would go further by assessing each member state’s defense industrial base, contributions to Ukraine, and dependency on U.S. military assets.
“Year after year, our so-called allies shirk their commitments while we pay for the conflicts raging in their backyards,” Lee said. “By imposing annual reporting requirements, my legislation will identify delinquent allies — promoting accountability and putting them on notice to pay their fair share.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who supports the bills, delivered a scathing assessment of America’s role in the alliance.
“Our NATO allies expect the U.S. to be the sugar daddy and the world’s policeman while they sit back and let us do the heavy lifting. President Trump was right, it’s time for them to pull their own weight. Congress must stop giving blank checks to our allies and start demanding accountability. That’s why I’m pushing for the NATO Burden Sharing Report Act and the Allied Burden Sharing Report Act, to show the American people exactly who’s paying the bills and who’s shirking their share,”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), also in favor of the bills, echoed those concerns: “NATO is a vital alliance, but it only works when every member pulls their weight. Europe’s security is not America’s sole responsibility. These bills will shine a light on who’s paying their fair share — and who’s not — so we can finally hold our allies accountable and strengthen the alliance for the future.”
According to Lee’s one pager on the bills, NATO allies reaffirmed the 2% defense spending pledge during last year’s summit in Washington, a commitment first made a decade earlier at the 2014 Wales Summit. Yet one-third of member states still fail to meet that benchmark.
“America has shouldered the burden of @NATO freeloaders for too long,” Lee wrote Tuesday on X. “Year after year, our ‘allies’ shirk their commitments while we pay for the conflicts raging in their backyards. My legislation will put them on notice to pay their fair share.”
The post ‘Time to Leave NATO’: Sen. Mike Lee Unveils Trio of Bills to Withdraw U.S., Expose Allied ‘Freeloaders,’ Demand Defense Transparency appeared first on Breitbart.
