
The top defense civilian and military officials received a stern rebuke from members of the House Armed Services Committee during a Feb. 26 hearing for submitting a new budget request with reduced funds for shipbuilding. HASC Seapower Subcommittee Chairman Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) lambasted Defense Secretary Mark Esper during the hearing, asking the status of a 30-year shipbuilding plan that was expected to be released with the fiscal year 2021 presidential budget request, and critiquing the actual funding request as too…