Lawmakers Respond to Reports of Jaw-Dropping Conditions Aboard U.S. Aircraft Carrier

Lawmakers are demanding answers after a series of jaw-dropping reports outlined what sailors and their families claimed were deteriorating conditions aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which recently set the record for most consecutive days at sea without a port call. The ship, which is supporting U.S. operations against Iran, left its home port in San Diego in November 2025 and has spent more than 250 days at sea. Concerns about the ship's roughly 5,000 service members mounted after the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes published reports of family members describing suicidal ideation and food shortages on the Lincoln, with no apparent end in sight for its deployment. Families said they were told that their relatives attempted to jump overboard or that other sailors had intervened to stop an attempt. On the heels of those reports, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao in a letter this week to state what actions the Navy has taken to improve conditions. The Connecticut Democrat blamed President Donald Trump and Hegseth's management of the war against Iran for the situation, questioning whether the conflict was being carried out in a sustainable manner. "These reports warrant immediate attention, but they also raise a broader question: whether the Navy can sustain the operational tempo now being demanded of its carrier force, particularly as this Administration repeatedly commits U.S. forces to conflicts of its own choosing and increasingly relies on aircraft carriers to sustain those operations," Blumenthal wrote Wednesday. He was one of a number of Democrats who demanded action from the White House. Rep. Mike Levin of California called on Trump to remove Hegseth from his post, while Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, a military veteran, wrote on X that the Navy must permit a bipartisan congressional delegation to board the Lincoln for an oversight investigation "into this horrible situation." Congressional delegations "have visited war zones to inspect the conditions of our troops," Gallego wrote Wednesday. "There is no reason to be denied access." The Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports of dire living conditions aboard the ship, and whether it planned to respond to Blumenthal's letter. Hegseth told reporters Thursday during a trip to Panama that the reports of dire living conditions aboard the Lincoln were "completely misrepresented." "We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment," Hegseth said. "Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody." The Navy is expected to send the USS George Washington to replace the Lincoln in a previously planned swap, a U.S. official told CNN Thursday afternoon, though it's not clear when the new carrier will arrive. Navy spokesperson Ferry Gene Baylon declined to confirm the Washington's movements in a statement to NOTUS, citing operational security concerns.