Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, said in a press release on Friday that the House Armed Services Committee had adopted his amendment to the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, saying, “Under a provision in the NDAA approved by the House Armed Services Committee early this morning, the U.S. Navy will have to scrap plans to send shipbuilding jobs overseas.”
The NDAA is an annual bill that authorizes defense spending and sets policy priorities for the Pentagon. It must still pass both the House and Senate and be signed by the president before taking effect.
The House Armed Services Committee passed the fiscal 2027 NDAA on June 5 in a 44-12 vote after considering a series of amendments.
Golden said two of his amendments were approved by the committee, including one aimed at blocking what he called the Navy’s outsourcing plan. According to his office, the amendment states that none of the funds authorized for the Navy in fiscal 2027 may be obligated or spent to enter into a procurement plan for a battle force ship that would be built in a foreign shipyard.
“American military spending should support American jobs,” Golden said. “The idea that any part of our surface fleet would be built on foreign soil, by foreign labor, is unacceptable.”
He added that the plan posed a threat to U.S. industry, jobs and national security.
The provision is not final, as the bill still needs approval from the full House and must be reconciled with the Senate’s version.
Still, if the restriction survives the legislative process, it could affect recent Pentagon discussions on using allied shipyards to help procure next-generation naval vessels. South Korean shipbuilders have been seen as possible partners as Washington seeks to address delays, cost overruns and limited capacity in its own naval shipbuilding sector.
The move could also weigh on broader South Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation under the MASGA initiative, short for “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again,” which has been promoted as part of efforts to strengthen U.S. maritime industrial capacity through cooperation with allies.
Breaking Defense reported last month that the Pentagon had requested $1.85 billion to study and potentially procure future Navy ships from allied shipbuilders, including yards in South Korea and Japan.
South Korean shipbuilders have expanded their presence in the U.S. shipbuilding and maintenance market in recent years, while Seoul and Washington have discussed ways to link Korea’s shipbuilding capacity with U.S. efforts to rebuild its maritime industrial base.
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