Shaheen Statement on Vote Against Advancing Nominee to be U.S. Secretary of the Navy

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a top member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and Co-Chair of the U.S. Senate Navy Caucus, released the following statement after voting against advancing John Phelan’s nomination to be U.S. Secretary of the Navy: 

“To keep pace with our national security goals and maintain a strategic advantage over China, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard must hire roughly 550 workers annually – and yet, the Pentagon is making reckless cuts that put hundreds of shipyard jobs vital to military readiness on the chopping block. Unfortunately, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have failed to safeguard those jobs by exempting shipyard employees from ill-considered layoffs, and therefore, I voted no on advancing Mr. Phelan’s nomination to be Secretary of the Navy.  

“President Trump says he’d like to ‘make shipbuilding great again’ – well, a good place to start would be protecting the shipyard workforce that is vital to national security. I sincerely hope that we can work together to reverse course and allow the hardworking employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to continue their mission.” 

Last month, Shaheen and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) sent a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of the Navy urging an exemption for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard employees from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) deferred resignation program for federal employees. In their letter to Acting Secretary Terence G. Emmert, the Senators noted that any reduction to the Shipyard’s workforce would jeopardize our nation’s security by increasing submarine maintenance timelines. 

During his confirmation hearing, Shaheen pressed Mr. Phelan for his commitment to engage with OPM to exempt shipyard employees and maintain a strong workforce should he be confirmed. 

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