Pentagon Budget 2026: US Navy shipbuilding funding cuts questioned

US Navy officials say Columbia-class submarines, one shown here in a rendering, are still the service's acquisition priority. (US Navy)

The funding cuts for US Navy (USN) shipbuilding and related accounts for the proposed fiscal year (FY) 2026 Pentagon budget were questioned during a 4 June congressional hearing on USN posture and operations.

The Technical Supplement to the proposed FY 2026 Budget Appendix released on 30 May by the Office of Management and Budget noted that USD20.8 billion for Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy, known as the SCN account, was to be included in the budget request.

US Representative Joe Courtney of Connecticut noted that the request “is a drastic reduction from last year's FY [20]25 SCN account that, as enacted, appropriated USD36.6 billion”, during the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces hearing.

“The math is simple: the SCN account, as submitted, is USD15.7 billion lower,” Courtney said, noting that the appendix provided only top lines for accounts, with no funding line breakdown.

“We are now being told that the reconciliation bill – that still has not been enacted – will backfill this delta, since it included USD33 billion for navy shipbuilding,” he said. “Only around half of this USD33 billion is clearly marked for procurement of vessels that typically fall under SCN.”

He added, “But how can we really assume that, given the reconciliation bill clearly states the funds can be obligated over a four-year period through 30 September 2029? Further, except for one Virginia-class submarine that the reconciliation bill states will be procured for fiscal year 2026, the rest of the navy ships listed in that legislation have no specific year of procurement.”

For more information on the FY 2026 budget proposal, please see