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The Senate on Wednesday delivered a sweeping bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump’s national security agenda, approving a massive defense policy bill that would force the Pentagon to turn over footage of controversial military strikes and sharply limit the administration’s ability to reduce U.S. troop levels overseas.
The 77-20 vote cleared the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act after it passed the House last week, capping months of negotiations between the armed services committees. Trump is expected to sign the bill, despite deep objections from the White House to several of its most consequential provisions.
The legislation reflects growing concern among lawmakers of both parties that the Trump administration has sidelined Congress in decisions involving military force, troop deployments and alliances — areas where lawmakers are now reasserting authority.
Congress demands strike footage
Lawmakers used the annual must-pass defense bill to pressure the Pentagon into releasing unedited video footage of U.S. strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats near Latin America.
The bill freezes 25% of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until Congress receives the footage, escalating a dispute over a Sept. 2 “double-tap” strike that killed survivors of an initial attack on a vessel suspected of carrying narcotics.
While members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees viewed portions of the footage behind closed doors Wednesday, most lawmakers have not seen the full video. Several have raised concerns about the legality of the operation and the lack of transparency surrounding it.
Hegseth rejected calls Tuesday for the footage to be publicly released and declined to say whether all members of Congress should have access.
Some lawmakers fear the strikes risk entangling the U.S. in a broader regional conflict, particularly with Venezuela. Trump escalated tensions Tuesday by ordering a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from the country, increasing scrutiny of the administration’s military posture in the region.
Limits on troop withdrawals
The bill also erects new guardrails around Trump’s efforts to reshape U.S. military commitments abroad.
It bars the Pentagon from reducing U.S. troop levels in Europe below 76,000 for more than 45 days unless senior defense officials certify to Congress that such a drawdown serves U.S. national interests and that NATO allies were consulted.
A similar restriction prevents reducing U.S. forces in South Korea below 28,500 personnel, a move the administration has reportedly considered.
Lawmakers also blocked any attempt to transfer NATO’s supreme allied commander role away from a U.S. general — a symbolic and operational linchpin of the alliance for decades.
Those provisions directly contradict Trump’s newly released national security strategy, which criticizes European allies and portrays the continent as being in cultural and strategic decline.
Tensions over NATO and Ukraine
Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., has repeatedly clashed with the administration over its approach to NATO and Ukraine, including a recent Pentagon decision to withdraw a rotational Army brigade from Romania — a move lawmakers warned could embolden Russia.
The bill authorizes $400 million to continue arming and training Ukraine’s military, despite Trump’s push for Kyiv to strike a deal with Moscow to end the war.
The legislation “reinforces alliances across Europe and the Indo-Pacific,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the committee’s top Democrat, adding that it preserves “robust congressional oversight” as global threats evolve.
Pushback on military leadership purge
Lawmakers also moved to curb the administration’s purge of senior military leaders, including the February ouster of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown.
Under the bill, the Pentagon must notify Congress and provide a justification when removing members of the Joint Chiefs, combatant commanders or judge advocates general — a direct response to concerns that political loyalty, rather than professional judgment, has driven leadership changes.
White House wins, too
Republicans and the administration pointed to conservative victories in the bill, including provisions codifying several Trump executive orders and repealing diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the Pentagon.
The package also advances bipartisan acquisition reforms aimed at speeding weapons development, expanding drone production and strengthening shipbuilding capacity.
The authorization totals $901 billion, about $8 billion more than Trump requested, covering Pentagon operations and nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department. Lawmakers must still pass a separate appropriations bill to fully fund the programs.
“The bill sets us on a path to modernize our defense capabilities,” Wicker said, citing investments in drones, shipbuilding and lower-cost weapons.
War powers rollback
In a significant assertion of congressional authority, the legislation repeals the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force tied to the Gulf War and Iraq invasion — a long-sought move by critics of expansive presidential war powers.
The result is a defense bill that funds the military while simultaneously drawing clearer boundaries around how — and by whom — U.S. force can be used.
