WASHINGTON, May 15, 2026 — Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican and senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, publicly broke with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday over the abrupt cancellation of a 4,000-troop deployment to Poland, calling it a direct contradiction of what the Pentagon told Congress and an embarrassment to the United States.
“This is baloney,” Bacon wrote on X. “This was a foolish and embarrassing course of events.”
Bacon’s rebuke targeted not just the decision itself, but the Pentagon’s public defense of it — and what he said were two specific falsehoods: that Poland had been notified in advance, and that U.S. European Command had signed off on the cancellation without objection.
‘Poland Was Not Notified’
Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said Thursday the decision “follows a comprehensive, multilayered process that incorporates perspectives from key leaders in EUCOM and across the chain of command” and insisted it “was not an unexpected, last-minute decision.” Bacon rejected that account directly.
“For starters, Poland was not notified,” Bacon wrote on X. “Senior leaders contacted me yesterday saying they were blindsided.”
At the House Armed Services Committee hearing Friday, Bacon expanded on what he had learned. Polish officials called him on Thursday — not the Pentagon — to find out what had happened to the deployment. “They called me yesterday, they did not know, they were blindsided,” Bacon told Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve. “These are some of our best allies, and they had no idea. They still don’t know what the plan is.”
EUCOM Did Not Clear the Decision
Bacon also disputed the Pentagon’s claim that EUCOM leadership had endorsed the cancellation without reservation. “EUCOM did NOT say there was minimal risk by cancelling the deployment,” he wrote on X.
That account aligns with reporting by Army Times, which reported that Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. European Command and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, expressed reservations to the order and told superiors the cancellation was not without risk. Grynkewich had told lawmakers as recently as March that Russia “is an enduring regional challenger, capable of threatening the US homeland.”
LaNeve acknowledged at Friday’s hearing that he worked with Grynkewich after Hegseth’s office directed EUCOM to reduce forces, but said the final order to cancel the brigade’s deployment “came down” from the Defense Department. Neither LaNeve nor Driscoll could provide lawmakers with a policy rationale for the decision.
‘A Slap in the Face’
Bacon’s language on the House floor was even sharper than his post on X. “This is a slap in the face to Poland. It’s a slap in the face to our Baltic friends. I think it’s a slap to the face in this committee,” he said.
He called the decision “reprehensible” and “an embarrassment to our country — what we just did to Poland,” and warned that the message being sent extended well beyond Warsaw. “We’re sending a terrible message to Russia and to our allies,” Bacon said.
Bacon’s criticism carries particular weight given Poland’s record as a NATO member. The country is projected to spend 4.7 percent of its GDP on defense this year — the highest in the alliance. Hegseth himself has called Poland a “model ally.” In September, President Trump told Polish President Karol Nawrocki he did not intend to pull U.S. troops from the country, saying, “We’ll put more there if they want,” according to Politico.
Bipartisan Backlash
Bacon was not alone. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said at Friday’s hearing that the Pentagon violated statutory requirements to consult Congress on force posture changes. “We don’t know what’s going on here, but I can just tell you we’re not happy,” Rogers said, threatening to mandate compliance with the legal troop minimums set in the 2026 defense funding bill.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the committee’s ranking member, said Army leaders should be able to explain the decision. “If there’s some strategy behind it, then you guys ought to know, and you ought to be able to communicate it to us,” Smith said.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., challenged Valdez’s claim that the decision was not last-minute. After reading Valdez’s statement aloud in the hearing, Scott said flatly: “I don’t see how that statement can be true.”
The Broader Pattern
Bacon noted the Poland cancellation followed a now-familiar pattern. The Pentagon previously redeployed a brigade from Romania without sending a replacement — a decision that also drew bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill. Earlier this month, Hegseth announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany after Trump reacted angrily to remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by Iran.
Trump has threatened deeper cuts still, telling reporters he is “cutting a lot further than 5,000” troops from Germany and floating withdrawals from Italy and Spain as well. The combined Poland and Germany reductions could push total U.S. forces in Europe below the 76,000-troop statutory floor.
Bacon, summarizing the sentiment of much of the committee, was blunt: “I know I may not represent 100% of people in this committee, but I think I represent the views of the vast majority. We disagree.”