Following Pappas’s Leadership, 2026 NDAA Protecting Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Staff From Layoffs and Hiring Freezes Becomes Law

Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), founding member of the bipartisan Public Shipyard Caucus and representative for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, applauded the signing of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act which enacts provisions from his bipartisan Protecting Public Naval Shipyards Act.

These provisions would place a “prohibition on the use of funds from carrying out a hiring freeze, reduction in force, or hiring delay without cause at a public shipyard,” and effectively exempt the workforces of America’s four public shipyards, which are responsible for repairing and retrofitting the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers and submarines, from the Trump administrations’ unjustified hiring freezes and mass layoffs.

“The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is a critical component of our national defense and is an economic engine for New Hampshire. The men and women of our Shipyard work every day with skill and patriotism to ensure our nation’s readiness and support our military for any battle that lies ahead and it is my honor to represent them in New Hampshire’s First District. Their contributions are essential, and their job security and the ability of the Shipyard to hire the staff they need should never be in question,” said Congressman Pappas. “I’m thrilled that the bipartisan version of the NDAA signed into law by President Trump includes my provisions to protect the civilian workforce at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the Administration’s mass layoffs that hurt Shipyard personnel, our economy, and our military readiness, and I will keep fighting to make these protections permanent.”

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is one of just four public shipyards nationwide that maintain the US Navy’s submarine fleet. The Shipyard is also the region's largest employer. In 2023, the latest available data, more than 7,400 civilian employees worked at the base with an economic impact exceeding $1.5 billion, according to the Seacoast Shipyard Association's 2024 report. The Shipyard is currently working to hire additional workers to increase its capacity amid a $1.87 billion dry dock expansion.

Under the current administration's most recent guidelines, the Navy was currently limited to hiring no more than 1,550 external personnel across all naval institutions each month – far too few to meet the demand of America’s public shipyards.

Background:

Since President Trump took office, Pappas has worked to protect civilian workers who play a critical role in maintaining U.S. national security. In February, he joined workers from PNSY to discuss the impact of the administration’s job cuts and hiring freezes, which led the Shipyard to pause hiring. 

In March Pappas led his House colleagues in further sounding the alarm over the Trump Administration’s hiring freeze and workforce cuts. Later that month, the U.S. Department of Defense exempted the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workforce from the civilian hiring freeze. 

In July the New Hampshire Congressional delegation also called on General Steven Nordhaus, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, to exempt critical safety roles, including firefighters and air traffic controllers, from its planned 10.7% reduction to federal civilians at the Air National Guard (ANG). More than half of the civilian employees at Pease Air National Guard Base are civilian emergency personnel and air traffic controllers, and the proposed cuts could devastate the important role Pease plays in supporting emergency services in the region, including at Portsmouth International Airport.

In August Pappas and Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (VA-02) introduced the bipartisan Protecting Public Naval Shipyards Act. This legislation would exempt the workforces of America’s four public shipyards from recent hiring freezes and mass layoffs. This bipartisan legislation is led in the Senate by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Angus King (I-ME). Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (NH-02) is a cosponsor of the House bill. During the conference process for the FY 2026 NDAA, Pappas successfully called on the leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to include these provisions in their final bill text, which was signed into law on the evening of December 18, 2025.