Kennedy introduces bill to enforce U.S.-U.K. treaty, require U.S. Senate to approve Diego Garcia giveaway

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, introduced the Diego Garcia Treaty Oversight Act, which would require the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate for any changes to the 1966 treaty between the United States and United Kingdom concerning the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In effect, Kennedy's bill would force the United Kingdom to secure Senate approval before ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, including an island home to U.S.-U.K. Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, to Mauritius. It would also block the use of federal funds to modify the treaty without such approval.

"When two countries shake hands on a treaty, one of them can't start changing the terms without the other country agreeing to it. That's just common sense. That's why I take issue with the United Kingdom trying to give our joint military base on Diego Garcia to a pal of Xi Jinping's-all without getting the U.S. Senate's consent. My bill would make sure that our friends in the U.K. don't modify our treaty and hand this gift to China without giving the Senate a say," said Kennedy.

The bill would additionally require a report to Congress about the national security reasons for any change to the treaty, implications for U.S. operational control of the base and risks posed by third-party sovereignty or military presence.

Read more about Kennedy's bill in The Telegraph here.

Background:

Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, houses a joint U.S.-U.K. military base-one of the only bases in the world where the U.S. military can reload submarines.

Despite the base's importance, the United Kingdom has sided with left-wing activists by moving to cede control of the Chagos Islands to the small island nation of Mauritius.

Mauritius, located more than 1,200 miles from the Chagos Islands, has become increasingly aligned with the Chinese Communist Party. Its prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, has signaled his intent to bolster diplomatic relations with China, once relaying that President Xi Jinping told him, "China never forgets its friends."

Kennedy has long condemned the United Kingdom's planned giveaway of the Chagos Islands.

• Shortly after the proposed deal's announcement in October 2024, Kennedy released a statement lambasting the decision as "dangerous and irresponsible," making him one of the chief American opponents of the Chagos giveaway.

• The same month, Kennedy authored an op-ed in The Hill further denouncing the move and wrote a letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking answers about the Biden administration's involvement in the deal.

• On four occasions from November 2024 to February 2025, Kennedy took to the U.S. Senate floor to urge the U.S. and U.K. governments to abandon the deal.

• In January 2025, Kennedy hosted two leading British critics of the Chagos giveaway, Baron Dean Godson and Julia Mizen of the U.K.-based think tank Policy Exchange, at his office.

• Later that month, Kennedy penned an op-ed in The Telegraph, arguing in part that "[t]he idea that the U.K. must hand over the islands to atone for whatever perceived wrongs Britain's forefathers may have committed is nonsense."

• In April 2025, Kennedy participated in a Wall Street Journal documentary about the Chagos Islands deal, calling it "stone-cold stupid."

• In January 2026, Kennedy published another op-ed in The Telegraph, once again urging the U.K. to work with the Trump administration to protect Diego Garcia. He followed this op-ed with a February speech on the Senate floor elaborating on his argument.

• In February 2026, Kennedy led a letter to the Trump administration encouraging Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to oppose the deal.

Full text of S.4019, the Diego Garcia Treaty Oversight Act, is available here.