Senate overwhelmingly votes down bill pulling US troops from Niger despite coup

The Senate overwhelmingly voted down a bill mandating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Niger on Thursday.

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), failed by an 11-86 vote, though several of those who voted in favor were Democrats. Paul argued in a floor speech before the vote that the United States had no business keeping troops in the region without authorization from Congress and noted that Niger is amid a military coup led by someone trained by U.S. forces.

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“So much senseless violence. So much death and destruction. Shouldn’t we at least avoid wars of choice? Shouldn’t we at least not go looking for trouble in every corner of the planet?” Paul said. “With the Middle East on fire, what sense does it make to have over 1,000 troops in Niger? Does it make sense to station over 1,000 troops in a country ruled by a military junta?”

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jim Risch (R-ID), the top members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, each defended U.S. involvement in the West African country, which succumbed to a coup in July that saw the ouster and detention of the nation’s democratically elected president.

Risch said that such a withdrawal would “weaken our regional reconnaissance efforts” and provide Russia with an opening to grow its influence in Niger, while Cardin pointed out U.S. troops are not engaged in active hostilities.

Still, there have been casualties, something Paul noted in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month in which he inquired about U.S. military involvement in the country.

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Four American service members were killed in an ambush by Islamic State militants in 2017, and the father of one of those soldiers recently urged Congress to reconsider whether the U.S. should have troops in Niger. The U.S. first stationed troops in the country in 2013 as part of a broader counterterrorism mission in Africa.

Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) co-sponsored the legislation, while Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Peter Welch (D-VT) voted in favor of it on the floor.