The annual U.S. defense budget bill is expected to include a ban on the use of funds to reduce the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea amid speculation about a possible troop cut on the Korean Peninsula.

According to the website of the U.S. Congress, the National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate bill for the fiscal year 2026 defense policy, retains the provision, introduced under the Biden administration, to maintain the current level of U.S. Forces Korea.

The bill, approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee last Friday, says the secretary of defense should continue efforts to strengthen U.S. security alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

It also says amounts authorized to be appropriated under the legislation may not be spent to reduce the total number of U.S. troops in South Korea below 28-thousand-500, or to complete the transition of wartime operational control of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command from the U.S.-led command to the South Korea-led command.