Shaheen, Collins, King Urge OPM to Process Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Civilian Hires to Address Shipyard Workforce Needs and Support U.S. National Security
(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) are urging the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to process nearly 150 personnel that have received initial job offers from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for civilian positions that have been approved by U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan. In their letter to OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell, the Senators note that individuals who are needed to fill critical national security roles cannot be fully onboarded at the Shipyard until OPM processes their job offers. The letter follows the Senators’ recent visit to the Shipyard with Navy Secretary Phelan.
The Senators wrote, in part: “On April 17, we held a roundtable discussion at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard with the Secretary of the Navy and leaders from both the shipyard and the submarine industrial base. During that meeting, we were made aware that nearly 150 personnel have received initial job offers for civilian general schedule (GS) positions at the shipyard which have been approved by Secretary Phelan but have not been processed through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As a result, individuals who are needed to fill roles critical to our national security cannot been fully onboarded into their positions.”
They concluded: “On March 18, 2025, Mr. Jules Hurst, Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, issued guidance directing that “positions at depots, shipyards, arsenals, and maintenance facilities” would be exempt from the current civilian hiring freeze. In keeping with that directive and with Secretary Phelan’s approval for the hiring of these nearly 150 new shipyard workers, we request that you provide the following information no later than May 16, 2025: 1. What screening and/or processing of hiring decisions approved by Department of Defense leadership is conducted by OPM prior to final onboarding of new employees? 2. How long does OPM require to conduct its internal processing of new hires for the public shipyards? 3. How long does OPM anticipate that it will take to complete processing of the backlog of positions that have been approved by Secretary Phelan for employment at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard?”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is a key economic driver in the region, supporting thousands of jobs integral to America’s national security. After calls from Shaheen and Collins, and Shaheen and King, the U.S. Department of Defense exempted the shipyard workforce from the civilian hiring freeze. Last month, Shaheen, Collins and King visited the Shipyard with U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan to highlight the Shipyard’s role in supporting U.S. national security and the need to bolster the Shipyard’s workforce to meet workload demand.
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