WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump continues to institute a massive restructuring of the federal government, two of the top Republicans in Congress overseeing the Pentagon said in a public statement they were “very concerned” by reports that the U.S. may no longer appoint a general to serve as NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, consolidate some of the military’s 11 combatant commands and cancel an expansion of U.S. operations in Japan.

While neither the White House nor the Defense Department has publicly acknowledged the plans, first reported by CNN and NBC News, former military leaders and key congressional Republicans were quick to express deep concerns about the proposed “unilateral changes on major strategic issues,” as Senate Armed Services Chair Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and House Armed Services Chair Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Alaska, said in their joint statement Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

  • Two of the top Republicans in Congress overseeing the Pentagon said in a public statement they were “very concerned” by reports that the U.S. may no longer appoint a general to serve as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, consolidate some of the military’s 11 combatant commands and cancel an expansion of U.S. operations in Japan
  • Former military leaders and key congressional Republicans were quick to express deep concerns about the proposed “unilateral changes on major strategic issues,” as Senate Armed Services chair Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and House Armed Services chair Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Alaska, said in their joint statement on Wednesday
  • Since its formation in post-World War II Europe, NATO’s military operations have always been led by a U.S. military officer, beginning with future president Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1951
  • The goal of the restructuring, according to the reports, is to cut costs

“We support President Trump’s efforts to ensure our allies and partners increase their contributions to strengthen our alliance structure, and we support continuing America’s leadership abroad,” Wicker and Rogers said. “As such, we will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress.”

“Such moves risk undermining American deterrence around the globe and detracting from our negotiating positions with America’s adversaries,” the lawmakers continued.

Since its formation in post-World War II Europe, NATO’s military operations have always been led by a U.S. military officer, beginning with future President Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1951. The current supreme allied commander Europe is Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, who also commands the U.S. military’s European Command. One of the reported proposals is to combine U.S. European Command and Africa Command into a single command based out of Germany.

“For the United States to give up the role of supreme allied commander of NATO would be seen in Europe as a significant signal of walking away from the alliance,” retired Adm. James Stavridis, who held the role from 2009 to 2013, told NBC News. “It would be a political mistake of epic proportion, and once we give it up, they are not going to give it back."

The goal of the restructuring, according to the reports, is to cut costs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed 8% cuts in February, and on Tuesday the Pentagon announced roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs had been cut. Billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service is also working with Defense Department officials to cut from the military’s nearly $1 trillion annual budget.

The reported plans come as Trump is both pursuing cost cuts across the board and seeking to reshape relationships with longstanding allies in Europe, North American and across the globe. Many Republicans who hold more isolationist foreign policy views have advocated for the United States to leave NATO entirely. It also comes as Trump has engaged Russian President Vladimir Putin in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, which Putin blamed on NATO’s growth and perceived aggression when he launched his full-scale invasion in 2022.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO, the post-World War II military alliance that requires all treaty members to come to any member nation’s aid if one is attacked, and the Trump administration has ruled out any future admission of Ukraine to NATO after President Joe Biden had pledged they would at the war’s end.

NATO, the White House and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. 

“It signals a weakening commitment to NATO and I think wrong,” Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general and a top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, told Punchbowl News. “Candidate Trump did not run on this and it would have hurt him with the voters if he did. This weakens us and our Allies, and emboldens Russia.”