Senate rebukes Trump's plan to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan

Mitch McConnell.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The Senate voted on Thursday to advance legislation opposing President Trump's withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria and Afghanistan.

The measure, an amendment to a Middle East policy bill expected to pass next week, was drafted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and passed in a bipartisan vote of 68-23. In December, Trump said the Islamic State has been defeated, and he would pull 2,000 troops from Syria and 7,000 from Afghanistan. The amendment states that "the precipitous withdrawal of United States forces from either country could put at risk hard-won gains and United States national security."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.