John Kennedy, U.S. Senator from Louisiana, has expressed concerns about recent changes to NATO’s defense spending commitments in a series of posts on August 6, 2025. In his statements, Kennedy questioned the integrity of how member countries calculate their defense budgets and called for stricter adherence to spending targets.
Kennedy highlighted what he sees as weaknesses in the current agreement: (5/8) The Spanish carveout isn’t the only crack in NATO’s commitment.
Under the new agreement, only 3.5% of each country’s spending needs to contribute to core defense needs. The remaining 1.5% can apply to almost anything the country can claim is beneficial to its defense. (August 6, 2025).
He pointed specifically to Italy’s budget plans: (6/8) Italy, for example, is already planning to include a €13.5 billion bridge to Sicily as part of its 1.5% defense spending—even though this bridge was previously touted as an economic driver.
Under NATO’s flimsy language, the bridge may now count as defense infrastructure. (August 6, 2025).
Kennedy then described his legislative response: (7/8) That’s why I introduced a resolution to strongly urge every member of NATO to follow through with their 5% spending commitments.
If we want to deter our adversaries, we need real investments in our defense, not bridges that have little to do with national security. (August 6, 2025).
The debate over how NATO members calculate and report their military expenditures has been ongoing for years. Under previous agreements within the alliance, countries committed at least two percent of GDP toward defense; however, there have been repeated discussions about what counts toward that total and whether non-military infrastructure should be included.
