A rare joint House hearing on Wednesday exposed both the ambitious goals and significant hurdles in Washington’s efforts to revive American shipbuilding. While administration officials championed an expansive maritime buildout, congressional watchdogs highlighted persistent issues like delays, rising costs, and industrial bottlenecks that threaten to derail progress.
The hearing, titled “Revitalizing Shipbuilding and the Maritime Industrial Base,” brought together the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. This collaboration underscored the growing convergence of commercial shipbuilding, naval readiness, and industrial policy in Washington’s agenda.
“This is not theoretical,” emphasized Chairman Mike Ezell in his opening remarks, calling shipbuilding “the keystone” of the administration’s Maritime Action Plan. He voiced support for the White House’s proposal to fund 41 new government vessels in the fiscal 2027 budget.
At the heart of the hearing was a critical debate: identifying the root causes of the shipbuilding crisis and determining how to address them.
Administration officials painted a picture of a maritime sector on the brink of a historic resurgence. Jason Potter, acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, highlighted the administration’s “Golden Fleet” initiative, which proposes $65.8 billion in fiscal 2027 shipbuilding funding for 18 battle force ships and 16 non-battle force ships. Potter outlined a three-pronged strategy focused on maintaining maritime dominance, revitalizing the industrial base, and overhauling ship procurement processes.
“We are transitioning Navy shipbuilding acquisition from a compliance-driven bureaucracy to an outcome-focused warfighting enterprise,” Potter testified.
Stephen Carmel, administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration, offered a striking perspective, arguing that the U.S. has long misdiagnosed the shipbuilding problem. Carmel contended that weak cargo policy, not shipbuilding itself, is the root cause of maritime decline.
“Cargo demand drives vessel deployment, and sustained vessel deployment supports shipbuilding,” Carmel explained, emphasizing that maritime power cannot be rebuilt solely by subsidizing shipyards without addressing cargo flows tied to U.S. shipping.
This broader view of maritime policy, extending beyond naval procurement to include trade, logistics, and commercial fleet capacity, was a recurring theme throughout the hearing.
Rear Adm. Mike E. Campbell highlighted the Coast Guard’s significant recapitalization efforts, including $14 billion for new cutters, full funding for the first two Polar Security Cutters, and investments in aging fleet infrastructure. Notably, Campbell pointed to an international collaboration: the first four Arctic Security Cutters are being built in Finland to bring icebreaker expertise back to U.S. shipyards.
However, the optimism of administration officials was met with skepticism from congressional watchdogs. Eric Labs of the Congressional Budget Office warned that major Navy and Coast Guard programs continue to face severe delays and cost overruns. He noted that destroyers and submarines now take 9 to 10 years to build, compared to 5 to 6 years in previous decades, effectively depriving the Navy of about 20 additional ships.
Shelby Oakley from the Government Accountability Office echoed these concerns, stating that shipbuilding ambitions will falter without addressing acquisition discipline. Oakley cited billions in cost overruns, years-long delays, and troubled programs like the Navy’s Constellation-class frigate and the Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter. She also pointed to unresolved issues such as incomplete ship designs, weak industrial base planning, and supplier constraints.
The hearing highlighted a stark divide: while administration officials argued that historic investments and reforms are aligning to revitalize shipbuilding, watchdogs countered that similar promises have accompanied troubled programs for years.
A broader shift in Washington’s approach to maritime power also emerged. Lawmakers are increasingly treating naval shipbuilding, commercial shipbuilding, and sealift as interconnected components of a single industrial ecosystem. This perspective, central to the Maritime Action Plan, could significantly influence debates on cargo preference, commercial fleet expansion, workforce development, and potential legislative follow-ups to the SHIPS for America agenda.
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Mr Mike Schuler