Pappas, Pingree Lead Urgent Push to Protect U.S. Shipbuilders, National Security

On Friday Representatives Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Chellie Pingree (ME-01) led a group of their colleagues in sounding the alarm over the Trump Administration’s hiring freeze and workforce cuts, which impact American shipyards like Bath Iron Works and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. In their letter to President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday, the lawmakers said investments in America’s shipyards are not only in their constituents’ and the economy’s best interest, but they are also in the best interest of the United States’ national security.

A week after President Trump announced his commitment to shipbuilding, the lawmakers are making it clear to the American people that current policies the White House has already put in place are hindering the potential for a stronger shipbuilding industry—and harming hardworking Americans who are delivering and maintaining top of the line ships. In last week’s hearing in the House Armed Services Committee, top experts testified that labor issues remain a major component for the U.S. to compete with adversaries across the maritime domain. American shipbuilders need more than just rhetoric coming out of the White House; they need real policies that will support our shipyards, starting with reversing harmful Executive Orders. 

“Our shipbuilders have a daunting task ahead of them. In 2024, China was estimated to have a shipbuilding capacity 230 times greater than that of the United States. Our Navy and Coast Guard must compete with our adversaries across the globe, primarily Russia and China in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic. Navy undersea capabilities, specifically the Virginia-class and upcoming Columbia-class submarines, play a vital role in strategic deterrence around the globe. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard surface vessels are a critical necessity to meeting the threat environment in the Indo-Pacific and Arctic regions,” they wrote. “U.S. naval and maritime forces also play an integral part of protecting shipping and deterring terrorism in waters off the coast of Africa and in the Red Sea and defend against drug smugglers, human traffickers, and other nefarious activity on our Western and Eastern coastlines. Without continued investment in shipbuilding and our shipbuilders, we cannot hope to enable our Navy and Coast Guard in achieving their mission critical objectives.”

On January 20, President Trump signed an Executive Order to freeze federal hiring and require federal workers to return to in-person working–without explicitly exempting shipbuilding efforts. The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has also threatened further cuts and has forced shipyards, including Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, to cancel hiring events and put their own hiring pauses in place. 

“The chaos and uncertainty caused by these actions is unproductive and harmful to the important growth that is needed at our shipyards,” Pappas and his colleagues said. “The impact that these orders have on our country’s ability to build ships, compete with our adversaries on the seas, and hire Americans for good paying jobs, will be catastrophic to our country’s safety.”

“Our country does not have the luxury of pausing global events and China will not stop ramping up its naval forces to out compete ours. Hiring the required laborers for shipbuilding is a matter of strategic, national, and military necessity. Fully supporting the shipbuilding workforce must be a priority for this Administration,” they concluded.

The full letter is available here.