Several members of Congress who were present for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s address to the Reagan National Defense Forum were none too happy. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) called the National Security Strategy (NSS) “a bad strategy” because it criticizes Europe and makes nice with Russia. “You could tell that—they’re communicating they want to push back NATO. Do less of NATO,” he said, reported Breaking Defense. “I think that’s not what the American people voted for, nor want, and we saw the polling numbers today,” Bacon said, referencing the Ronald Reagan Institute defense and national security poll that supposedly showed more than 60% support for NATO among the American people.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called it the most “unprincipled” NSS he has ever seen. “It didn’t try to attempt to establish that we had any particular values, rules based international order, freedom, democracy, human rights, more economic opportunity even,” he told Breaking Defense on Dec. 7. “It basically said, ‘Look, the U.S. is a powerful country. We have the ability to go out and grab stuff in the world.’”
Smith added that while he is troubled by the document’s Monroe Doctrine language, as well as the slights to European immigration policies, he said he’s not optimistic that there will be enough Republican support in Congress to challenge the administration’s assertions. “The Republicans are still talking about American values, but they’re thus far unwilling to challenge this President when he directly contradicts and places at risk those very values that they profess to support,” he added.
