A federal hiring freeze memorandum signed by U.S. president Donald Trump might have a negative impact on navy shipyards and operations, U.S. senators said.
Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, joined by other senate colleagues, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis calling for Department of Navy shipyard civilian employees to be exempt from the recent presidential memorandum.
While the President’s memorandum states that it does not apply to military personnel or positions considered essential to meet national security responsibilities, the uncertainty has caused shipyards across the country to suspend all hiring.
The senators said consequences of the hiring freeze may be particularly harsh for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton because of the size of the workforce, the number of vacancies, and the importance of the shipyard to Washington state’s $30 billion dollar maritime economy.
“We believe a hiring freeze may have a severe and adverse impact on the ability of the Navy and public shipyards to meet critical national security requirements and we urge you to immediately exempt all Department of Navy shipyard civilian employees,” the senators wrote. “The civilian men and women who support the Navy provide mission critical maintenance to ensure the Navy can meet security requirements around the world, and should thus be granted an exception.”
The letter continues, “As you are aware, there is discussion regarding the requirements for a larger Navy to meet current and emerging threats… In order to maintain the current fleet and meet future maintenance requirements, we will need more civilians to maintain, repair and overhaul submarines, aircraft carriers and the entire naval fleet. These civilians frequently complete maintenance availabilities ahead of schedule and under budget saving taxpayer dollars and ensuring fleet readiness… A civilian hiring freeze at naval shipyards will severely impact this training pipeline resulting in maintenance delays and higher costs. The Presidential Memorandum states that the freeze is not intended to impact national security, however, freezing the hiring of civilian employees who will support critical fleet maintenance will directly undermine national security.”
“We urge you to consider the impact of the Memorandum on the Navy, public shipyards and national security and issue clear guidance to immediately exempt all Navy shipyard civilians from the hiring freeze,” the letter concludes.