Fischer Questions John Phelan at Confirmation Hearing

Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned John Phelan at the confirmation hearing on his nomination to be Secretary of the Navy.
During the hearing, Senator Fischer asked Phelan about his commitment to ensure that the Department of Defense complies with existing statutory requirements to continue funding the development of the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N). She also asked about his plans to increase munitions production and address longstanding challenges with the shipbuilding industrial base.
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Fischer Questions Phelan:
Senator Fischer:
I appreciate you putting yourself forward to serve your country in this capacity. Mr. Phelan, in your advanced policy questions to the committee, you stated: “If confirmed, I will ensure that the Department complies with existing statutory requirements to continue funding development of the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile.” Do you stand by that statement? Yes, or no?
John Phelan:
Senator, I think the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile is a very important program. I have not been read in on the briefings on that, but I know it is a critical component to our defense.
Senator Fischer:
And will you follow those statutory requirements?
John Phelan:
Yes, I will.
Senator Fischer:
Thank you, sir. To follow up on the shipbuilding part that's been discussed by the chairman, the Strategic Posture Commission recommended the establishment of additional shipyards dedicated to nuclear-powered ships and submarines. If confirmed, would you be open to exploring that option?
John Phelan:
Yes, I would, Senator. I think it's a very important part of our strategic focus.
Senator Fischer:
What we've learned from the war in Ukraine is that the United States' defense industrial base was not equipped to scale up production rates of munitions for these modern conflicts. Is it your view that the United States must further increase munition production capacity?
John Phelan:
Yes, Senator, I think we're at a critical shortage, and we have far too much dependence on one facility.
Senator Fischer:
Do you have any initial thoughts that you can share with us about steps that maybe you would be taking to ensure that the Navy has the munitions stockpiles that are required to meet the needs of the combatant commanders?
John Phelan:
Yes, Senator. I think, as you know, we are short munitions, as we've seen. I think we need to create more of a manufacturing base and incentivize more munitions plants in order to supplement what we already have. So, if confirmed, I intend to focus on this very quickly and get that resolved because I think we're at a dangerously low level from a stockpile perspective, and as well as new.
So I will use the skills that I had in the business world in terms of incenting. I think a lot of that also comes with working with you and the committee and Congress because we do need to send signals to the private sector to incentivize them to build these plants to get going. So, ordering and giving them a contract to build I think will be critical. And I'd like to believe we should be able to create a win-win between the private sector and for the taxpayer of the United States.
Senator Fischer:
You mentioned contracts with shipbuilding too: to be able to do a review of those contracts to make sure that there are incentives, so that private companies can make profits with that. You mentioned contracts again now. Would you look at that as well – look in depth on current contracts that we have with regards to our munitions? And if maybe what we're looking at here are roadblocks in being able to move ahead with being able to provide these munitions?
John Phelan:
Thank you for the question, Senator. Yes, I intend to sit down – day one – and we are going to go through every contract that we have and understand what exactly they say; what flexibility they do or do not give us; what contract needs to change or not change and why. I intend to do the same thing as it relates to an audit.
I need to understand why the Navy cannot pass an audit. The Marine Corps has done it two years running now. They deserve a lot of credit for that. I think that's a great thing. We are going to change and create much more accountability and understanding, because all of these things affect readiness. And as I said in my statement, readiness is critical, and I think we are at a very critical inflection point, particularly versus our peer nuclear adversaries.
So these are all things that are a reflection of a culture, as I mentioned, in decay. We really need to have a tight focus on these things. If we don't know where our inventory is, how can we have a training mission? You know, I've heard stories of training missions that have failed because the equipment wasn't there, and so we ended up losing that money, and that's not good.
Senator Fischer:
Thank you very much, sir.