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The North Atlantic Treaty: U.S. Legal
Obligations and Congressional Authorities
January 6, 2025
On July 21, 1949, the Senate passed a resolution giving its advice and consent to the ratification ofthe
North Atlantic Treaty, the multilateral collective security agreement that established the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). On July 25, 1949, the United States officially joined the treaty, becoming
one of NATO's 12 founding members. Since that time, the Senate has approved every request to increase
the membership of NATO-enlarging the alliance to 32 members. Congress has also enacted numerous
statutes implementing U.S. obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty and conducted oversight as to the
executive branch's participation in the alliance. Among the many statutes related to NATO is Section
1250A of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (2024 NDAA), which prohibits the
President from withdrawing the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty without the approval of the
Senate or statutory authorization-the first (and thus far the only) statute prohibiting unilateral
presidential withdrawal from a treaty.
This Legal Sidebar briefly (1) explicates the key legal obligations ofthe United States and other parties
under the North Atlantic Treaty, (2) examines Congress's authorities for implementing those obligations,
(3) analyzes the constitutional issues that may arise if a President were to withdraw from the treaty in
violation of Section 1250A, and (4) discusses various topics of consideration for the 119th Congress.
Key North Atlantic Treaty Obligations
Under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of
them ... shall be considered an attack against them all. Under the Charter of the United Nations (U.N.
Charter) and customary international law, an armed attack permits a country to potentially use force in its
defense-one of the exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force against another state set forth in the
U.N. Charter. In the event of such an attack, Article 5 obligates each party to exercise this right of self-
defense by taking such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and
maintain the security of the territory protected by the treaty (emphasis added). Article 3 of the treaty
contains complementary obligations for NATO members to carry out these mutual defense obligations if
necessary by maintain[ing] and develop[ing] their individual and collective capacity to resist armed
attack.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB11256
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/goverxd0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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