U.S. troops watch as President Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet members of the military at Ramstein Air Base in Germany in December 2018.
Photo: saul loeb/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON—U.S. lawmakers including prominent Republicans are preparing legislative efforts to block President Trump from withdrawing U.S. troops from Germany.
The proposals reflect growing congressional concern that Mr. Trump’s plan to halve U.S. troop levels in Germany would weaken the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They also come as lawmakers are demanding more information about U.S. intelligence reports indicating Russia may have paid bounties to insurgents to kill American troops in Afghanistan.
“The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany would be a gift to Russia, and that’s the last thing we should be doing,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah).
Mr. Romney has proposed an amendment to the law authorizing U.S. military spending for the coming fiscal year to preclude funds from being used to remove any U.S. troops who are permanently stationed there, unless Defense Secretary Mark Esper certifies such a withdrawal wouldn’t undermine NATO’s security, hamper U.S. military operations internationally, hurt U.S. military families or lead to significant additional redeployment costs.
Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday that his committee is likely to pass a similar measure to try to stop a withdrawal.
“It’s totally unrealistic that you would take thousands of people out of Europe by Sept. 30,” Mr. Thornberry told reporters. “Where would you put them? Where’s the housing?”
Mr. Thornberry said Mr. Trump’s plan didn’t appear to be based on serious Pentagon analysis but instead “came from a couple of people in the White House.”
There are 34,500 U.S. troops in Germany on a permanent basis and those numbers would be cut by 9,500 by September under Mr. Trump’s plan.
The Wall Street Journal reported on June 5 that the Pentagon also has been directed by the White House to impose a 25,000-person cap on the number of U.S. troops in Germany on a permanent or temporary basis. Under current practice, the American troop level there can reach more than 50,000 as units rotate through Germany or take part in training.
Rep. Adam Smith, the Washington Democrat who heads the House Armed Services Committee, suggested Tuesday that an amendment could be approved by the committee Wednesday to pause any troop withdrawals.
“It is possible that there is a scenario where repositioning troops out of Germany is in our national interest. The president has not made that case to date,” Mr. Smith told reporters.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.) plans to introduce the amendment Wednesday. It would require Mr. Esper to submit a detailed analysis of the implications of withdrawing troops from Germany before any funds could be spent to move them.
The measure also would preclude any redeployment from being carried out for six months from the time at which Mr. Esper’s analysis was received. That would provide another opportunity to reverse the step if Joe Biden, the presumptive Democrat nominee for president, prevails in the November election.
“I look forward to passing restrictions on this action, and I look forward to a new president,” Mr. Gallego said.
There is a precedent for congressional steps to slow or preclude troop withdrawals: past legislation has imposed similar constraints on troop withdrawals from South Korea without Pentagon certification.
The Senate is unlikely to pass the bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, before its July 4 recess. The House also must pass the measure and Mr. Trump would have to sign it into law.
The Pentagon hasn’t taken steps to carry out Mr. Trump’s troop withdrawal plan. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, the U.S. Air Force commander in Europe, said Monday that he had yet to be directed by the Pentagon to begin planning how to reduce or restructure his forces.
But the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday and Mr. Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had briefed Mr. Trump Monday on how they plan to carry out the withdrawal and would share more information with Congress in coming weeks. The plan, the Pentagon asserted, would strengthen NATO, improve the U.S. military’s flexibility and take care of the troops and their families.
Mr. Trump has described the troop reductions as a punitive step toward Germany. He has criticized Germany, Europe’s largest economy, in particular over its failure to reach the NATO military spending target of 2% of its gross domestic product.
National security adviser Robert O’Brien cast the reductions in an op-ed piece in the Journal as part of a broader realignment of U.S. forces that could result in the redeployment of troops from Germany to other countries in Europe, bases in the Pacific and installations in the U.S.
But military experts and retired U.S. generals said the troop withdrawal not only would hamper the U.S. ability to defend NATO but hinder its logistical ability to support forces sent to the Middle East and Africa.
The U.S facilities in Germany include Ramstein Air Base and the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a major U.S. military hospital that treats U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan and other conflict zones. Germany also includes major training facilities and the headquarters for the U.S. European and Africa Commands.
Write to Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com
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