{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/kaine-colleagues-call-on-trump-to-reverse-costly-directive-restoring-outdated-technology-on-aircraft-carriers", "Kaine, Colleagues Call on Trump to Reverse Costly Directive Restoring Outdated Technology on Aircraft Carriers", "2026-08-19", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "VA", "Tim Kaine", "K000384", "www.kaine.senate.gov", "kaine", "https://www.kaine.senate.gov/news", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, joined a group of his colleagues in calling on President Trump to reverse a recent national security memorandum directing the Department of Defense (DOD) to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam-powered systems on Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. The letter was also signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).\n\n\u201cCatapults are central to an aircraft carrier\u2019s ability to project airpower around the world, launching aircraft from the flight deck using either pressurized steam or, in newer systems, electrical power and magnetic fields. The Navy moved to the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) because it offers more precise control over aircraft launches, can accommodate a wider range of aircraft, and reduces maintenance and manpower requirements. The Navy has spent years improving this technology and has now conducted tens of thousands of successful launches,\u201d wrote the senators.\n\n\u201cYour plan to revert to steam-powered systems is not feasible. The Ford class was designed around electromagnetic catapults, while steam requires a fundamentally different infrastructure. With the Doris Miller already under construction and its electromagnetic launch equipment reportedly nearly 50 percent complete, your directive threatens to impose significant new costs and delays on a carrier program already critical to meeting the Navy\u2019s global commitments,\u201d the senators continued.\n\n\u201cThese projects are planned years in advance and go through intense scrutiny. Your constant interference in them risks wasting time, taxpayer dollars, and the safety of our warfighters. Our servicemembers and their families deserve to know that the equipment they receive is driven by operational requirements, not your whim,\u201d stressed the senators.\n\n\u201cOur aircraft carriers are among the most complex weapons systems ever built, and decisions about their design will shape the Navy\u2019s combat power for decades. Changes of this magnitude should be driven by the operational requirements of the fleet, the judgment of Navy engineers and warfighters, and rigorous assessments of cost, schedule, and capability\u2014not the personal preference of any President,\u201d the senators concluded.\n\nFull text of the senators\u2019 letter is available here and below.\n\nDear Mr. President,\n\nWe write to express serious concerns regarding your August 13 national security memorandum directing the Department of Defense to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam-powered systems on future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, beginning with the USS Doris Miller (CVN-81). At precisely the moment the Navy is struggling to meet growing demands for aircraft carriers around the world, you are ordering costly and ill-conceived redesigns of the future carrier fleet.\n\nCatapults are central to an aircraft carrier\u2019s ability to project airpower around the world, launching aircraft from the flight deck using either pressurized steam or, in newer systems, electrical power and magnetic fields. The Navy moved to the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) because it offers more precise control over aircraft launches, can accommodate a wider range of aircraft, and reduces maintenance and manpower requirements. The Navy has spent years improving this technology and has now conducted tens of thousands of successful launches.\n\nYour plan to revert to steam-powered systems is not feasible. The Ford class was designed around electromagnetic catapults, while steam requires a fundamentally different infrastructure. With the Doris Miller already under construction and its electromagnetic launch equipment reportedly nearly 50 percent complete, your directive threatens to impose significant new costs and delays on a carrier program already critical to meeting the Navy\u2019s global commitments.\n\nMost concerning, this directive is not an isolated instance. Your directive follows a growing pattern of personally prescribing the design of some of the military's most complex weapons systems, including a new class of battleships, a twin-engine version of the F-35, and now steam catapults aboard aircraft carriers. These projects are planned years in advance and go through intense scrutiny. Your constant interference in them risks wasting time, taxpayer dollars, and the safety of our warfighters. Our servicemembers and their families deserve to know that the equipment they receive is driven by operational requirements, not your whim.\n\nWe therefore request answers to the following questions:\n\nWhat technical, engineering, operational, and cost analyses informed your August 13 directive? Before it was issued, did the Chief of Naval Operations, Secretary of the Navy, NAVSEA, NAVAIR, or other Navy technical authorities recommend replacing the electromagnetic catapults with steam?\n\nWhat is the Navy\u2019s current estimate of the total cost and schedule impact of redesigning CVN-81 to incorporate steam catapults, including engineering and redesign costs, equipment already procured or under contract, contract modifications, and potential construction delays?\n\nHow would replacing electromagnetic catapults with steam affect the operational capabilities, including sortie generation, maintenance requirements, and its ability to launch the Navy\u2019s planned future carrier air wing, including unmanned aircraft?\n\nWhat impact would any delay to future carriers have on the Navy\u2019s ability to generate sufficient aircraft carrier presence to meet projected global operational requirements, particularly given the increasingly extended deployments already being required of the existing carrier fleet?\n\nOur aircraft carriers are among the most complex weapons systems ever built, and decisions about their design will shape the Navy\u2019s combat power for decades. Changes of this magnitude should be driven by the operational requirements of the fleet, the judgment of Navy engineers and warfighters, and rigorous assessments of cost, schedule, and capability \u2013 not the personal preference of any President.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-21T05:30:57Z", "2026-08-21T05:32:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/kaine-colleagues-call-on-trump-to-reverse-costly-directive-restoring-outdated-technology-on-aircraft-carriers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.119140001013875, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}