A Senate bill on next year's U.S. defense budget does not include a Trump-era clause that prohibited the use of the budget to reduce the size of U.S. Forces Korea(USFK). Instead, it is replaced by a call to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance in accordance with their defense treaty. 

The national defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2022, submitted for a plenary vote by the Armed Services Committee on Thursday, also did not specify the minimum number of American forces to be maintained in South Korea.

Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives had approved a similar bill that also did not contain the clause, but stated that Washington must maintain its existing 28-thousand-500-strong USFK.

The clause was intended to prevent the former Donald Trump administration from reducing the size of USFK when it was introduced in the National Defense Authorization Act(NDAA) for the fiscal year 2019. 

Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, had said the clause was removed simply because it was no longer deemed necessary.