U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led a hearing on the nomination of John Phelan for Secretary of the Navy. The hearing addressed critical issues facing the Navy, including shipbuilding and recruitment challenges.
Chairman Wicker expressed concerns about the Navy’s readiness and growth despite increased budgetary support. He pointed out failures in leadership related to amphibious ship and submarine construction, ship repair, and future force structure vision.
Phelan, a financier with a strong business background, previously met with Chairman Wicker to discuss his nomination. Wicker stated that Phelan’s skills in managing complex business deals could help get the Navy back on track.
“The Navy is up against significant challenges,” said Wicker. “The nominee before us can be a crucial part of that solution.”
Wicker emphasized collaboration among Congress, industry, and Navy leadership to address issues such as getting shipbuilding back on track. He highlighted that the Navy remains below its statutory requirement of 355 ships and criticized delays in major shipbuilding programs like Ford-class carriers and Virginia-class submarines.
“In December 2020, the shipbuilding plan said the Navy would grow to 315 ships by 2025,” he noted. “Here we are in 2025, and we have only 287 ships.”
He called for stabilizing shipbuilding programs, adopting commercial best practices, and incentivizing productivity improvements at shipyards. Maintenance performance was also criticized as unimpressive across ship classes.
“Our maintenance performance is unimpressive across ship classes,” Wicker remarked.
Wicker highlighted recruiting challenges as well, noting past failures to meet goals due to an overemphasis on demographic traits by previous administrations. He mentioned that although recruiting improved recently, maintaining this pace is essential to fill vacancies on ships.
“The stakes are high,” he stated. “We face a threat environment more complex than any since World War II.”
Wicker expressed confidence in Phelan’s ability to lead effectively given his experience rescuing distressed companies.
“I’m pleased with the nominee’s track record,” he concluded before turning over remarks to ranking member Reed.
