Senate Democrats Demand Answers On Conditions Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln

WASHINGTON —

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, sent a letter Wednesday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao demanding an accounting of conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that has now been at sea for more than 250 days, according to the letter posted on Blumenthal's Senate website. The ship has not made a port call in over 200 days, which Blumenthal wrote sets "a record for consecutive days at sea."

The Lincoln left Naval Base San Diego on November 21, 2025, for a deployment originally planned to last seven months and end in May, according to Blumenthal's office. Instead, the Navy extended it with no announced return date. The carrier was headed for the South China Sea before it was rerouted to the Middle East ahead of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that began February 28, CBS News reported.

Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote that he has received "widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns" and mail delays that have left care packages lost for months. He asked the Pentagon whether the Navy can keep up this pace of carrier deployments while the Trump administration continues military operations it chose to enter, and he noted the Lincoln is not an isolated case: the USS Gerald R. Ford spent 326 days at sea before returning home in May, the longest carrier deployment since the Vietnam era, according to the letter.

Families Confront Navy Leaders

CBS News reported that relatives of the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the Lincoln clashed with Navy leadership at two recent meetings over food shortages and other hardships, demanding to know when their family members would come home, according to MSNOW. Some families described serious mental health problems and suicide attempts on board, CBS News reported.

Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, cited a Military Times report that several sailors had tried to jump overboard or were stopped from trying in recent months. Gallego called on the Navy to let a bipartisan congressional delegation visit the ship to investigate, and, according to El Mundo, he wrote on social media that accounts of crew members threatening to jump were "a chilling warning sign," pointing to moldy showers, intermittent hot water, rationed food and soap, broken bathrooms and shifts of 12 to 16 hours with no days off. He said the way President Trump is treating troops during what he called an illegal war "is not just outrageous. It's dangerous."

Navy Disputes The Severity

A Navy official told CBS News the Lincoln is operating in a "highly contested environment" after combat disrupted normal supply routes in the Middle East, and said commanders prioritized food, then hygiene items, then mail. The official said the ship currently has clean water, working air conditioning and healthy meals, and said the Navy has not identified any increase in reported suicidal thoughts or attempts, pointing to onboard counselors, chaplains and other support services. Blumenthal's letter asks the Pentagon to respond with details on what steps it is taking to address the reported problems.