Sen. Mark Kelly Challenges Trump Carrier Policy and Lincoln Deployment Conditions
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona raised concerns about living conditions aboard the USS Lincoln and pushed back on President Trump's plan to replace the Navy's electromagnetic aircraft launch system with older steam-powered technology during an interview with NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer on Morning Edition, August 17, 2026. NPR
Kelly, a former Navy pilot who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been pressing the administration on carrier conditions. The USS Lincoln has been operating under extended deployment schedules. The longest aircraft carrier deployment on record lasted 341 days, set by the USS Nimitz between 2020 and 2021. U.S. Senate Democrats
The NPR interview also covered Trump's plan to bring back older launch technology on carriers. On August 13, 2026, the White House published a presidential action titled "Rebuilding the United States Navy and America's Shipbuilding Industrial Base," which includes a section called "Restoring Steam and Hydraulic Systems to Carriers" laying out required steps to replace EMALS across the carrier fleet. White House
Kelly criticized the reversal, first reported by The Hill on August 14, 2026. He said going back to steam catapults would move the Navy backward technologically. The Hill
The carrier policy fits within a broader naval buildup. The Navy's Shipbuilding Plan, published in May 2026, describes what it calls the "Golden Fleet" as the modern successor to Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet" vision. Defense.gov A White House fact sheet from October 2025 allocated up to $20 billion for thermal cooling systems, including chillers, air handling systems, and coolant distribution units. White House
Trump's push for a larger carrier fleet goes back to his first term. During a March 2017 visit to the future USS Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, he called for a 12-carrier Navy and pledged to rebuild the U.S. military. Defense.gov
The EMALS system, installed on the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers, uses linear motor technology to launch aircraft — think of it as a high-tech rail that uses electromagnetism instead of pressurized steam to fling planes off the deck. Traditional Nimitz-class carriers use steam-powered catapults. The August 2026 presidential action mandates replacing EMALS, a reversal that would require retrofitting Ford-class carriers already in service and changing the design of those still under construction.
Kelly's run-in with the Pentagon predates the carrier debate. NPR reported in November 2025 that the Defense Department was investigating the Arizona senator after he told service members to refuse illegal orders. NPR
The broader context here is a Democratic senator with direct military experience challenging two distinct administration policies at once: conditions for deployed sailors and a procurement decision that defense analysts have debated since EMALS entered service. The steam-versus-electromagnetic catapult dispute is not new, but the August 2026 presidential action raises it from a technical procurement question to a directive with fleet-wide implications. Kelly's dual focus on Lincoln deployment conditions and the EMALS reversal links operational readiness to acquisition policy in a way that forces the administration to address both the human toll of extended deployments and the cost of reversing a technology program already embedded in the fleet.
Kelly's NPR appearance brings both threads to a public audience at the same time. The interview aired as the administration's shipbuilding plan and carrier-technology directive move from policy announcements toward implementation, with budget and retrofit timelines still to be worked through Congress.
