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Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73not60

§1928f Limitation on Withdrawal From the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Title 22 › Chapter 24— MUTUAL SECURITY PROGRAM › Subchapter III— ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE › Part D— Special Assistance and Other Programs › § 1928f

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The President may not suspend, end, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty (made April 4, 1949) unless the Senate agrees with at least two-thirds of the Senators who are present or Congress passes a law allowing it. No federal money may be used to support any government official’s action to do those things unless the Senate gives that two-thirds approval or Congress passes a law. Before giving formal notice, the President must talk with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The President must also send them written notice as soon as possible and at least 180 days before acting. If a court finds part of this law invalid, the rest stays in force. The terms withdrawal, denunciation, suspension, and termination follow the meanings in the Vienna Convention concluded May 23, 1969.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §1928f

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The President shall not suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, except by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or pursuant to an Act of Congress.
(b)No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may be used to support, directly or indirectly, any decision on the part of any United States Government official to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, except by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or pursuant to an Act of Congress.
(c)(1)Prior to the notification described in paragraph (2), the President shall consult with the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives in relation to any initiative to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty.
(2)The President shall notify the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives in writing of any deliberation or decision to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, as soon as possible but in no event later than 180 days prior to taking such action.
(d)Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize, imply, or otherwise indicate that the President may suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw from any treaty to which the Senate has provided its advice and consent without the advice and consent of the Senate to such act or pursuant to an Act of Congress.
(e)If any provision of this section or the application of such provision is held by a Federal court to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this subtitle and the application of such provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
(f)In this subtitle, the terms “withdrawal”, “denunciation”, “suspension”, and “termination” have the meaning given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 23, 1969.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This subtitle, referred to in subsecs. (e) and (f), is subtitle C (§§ 1241–1250B) of title XII of div. A of Pub. L. 118–31, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 458, which enacted this section, amended section 9905 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, and section 8634 of Title 10, Armed Forces, and enacted provisions set out as notes under section 419 of Title 5 and section 113 of Title 10 and amended provisions set out as a note under section 333 of Title 10. For complete classification of subtitle C to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, and not as part of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 which comprises this chapter.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 1928f

Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60