Sweeping U.S. defense bill passes

"This will be the 65th year in a row, the ⁠65th consecutive year, that Congress has come together across the aisle and across two chambers to send the president a bill designed to sustain and strengthen the national defense," said Senator Roger Wicker ​of Mississippi, the Republican Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. In a break with Trump, whose fellow Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate, this year's NDAA includes several provisions to boost security in Europe, despite Trump's release earlier this month of a National Security Strategy seen as friendly to Russia and a reassessment of the U.S. relationship with Europe. And it limits the Department of Defense's ability to drop the number of U.S. forces in Europe to fewer than 76,000 and bars the U.S. European Commander from giving up the title of NATO Supreme Commander.