{"id":32937,"date":"2020-02-10T16:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/10\/defense-secretary-esper-says-new-us-missile-sub-is-the-navys-bill-setting-up-a-fight-with-congress\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:37:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:37:44","slug":"defense-secretary-esper-says-new-us-missile-sub-is-the-navys-bill-setting-up-a-fight-with-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/02\/10\/defense-secretary-esper-says-new-us-missile-sub-is-the-navys-bill-setting-up-a-fight-with-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Secretary Esper says nuclear missile sub is \u2018the Navy\u2019s bill,\u2019 setting up a fight with Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 After<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2019\/12\/10\/nuclear-deterrent-still-the-us-navys-top-priority-no-matter-the-consequences-top-officer-says\/\" target=_blank> years of warnings from U.S. Navy leaders<\/a> that replacing the aging Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine will eat the service\u2019s shipbuilding account alive, the year the first Columbia-class submarine is to be funded has arrived with the fiscal year 2021 budget request. But according to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, the Navy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/surface-navy-association\/2020\/01\/14\/we-need-more-money-us-navys-top-officer-says-the-service-needs-more-of-the-dod-budget\/\" target=_blank>shouldn\u2019t expect any extra money to pay for it<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/federal-budget\/2020\/02\/10\/mark-esper-on-the-big-pivot-point-that-will-define-the-2022-budget\/\" target=_blank>exclusive interview<\/a> with Defense News Friday, Esper said the Columbia class is a Navy bill, just like Air Force nuclear deterrent recapitalization will be an Air Force bill, and the services will just have to find efficiencies in house to pay for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cClearly, the Columbia is a big bill, but it&#8217;s a big bill we have to pay,\u201d Esper said. \u201cThat&#8217;s the Navy&#8217;s bill. The Air Force has a bill called bombers and ground-based strategic deterrent, so that&#8217;s a bill they have to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe all recognize that. Acting Secretary [Thomas] Modly and I have spoken about this. He believes, and I think he\u2019s absolutely correct, that there are more and more efficiencies to be found within the department, the Navy and the Marine Corps, that they can free up money to invest into ships \u2014 into platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/breaking-news\/2020\/02\/09\/defense-secretary-mark-esper-on-how-the-navy-can-get-to-355-ships\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/esper_navy_1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Defense Secretary Mark Esper on how the Navy can get to 355 ships<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">In an exclusive interview with Defense News, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper makes the case of how and why the Navy can hit 355 ships by 2030.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The word from Esper that Columbia would be considered a shipbuilding bill seemed to put the final stake in the heart of years of efforts by Navy leaders and lawmakers to avoid crushing the Navy\u2019s shipbuilding budget and negatively impacting other programs such as surface ship construction, ships that provide both a vital peacetime deterrence function and are popular with lawmakers with shipbuilders in their states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy\u2019s top officer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, recently called for the Defense Department to shift even as little as one percent of the DoD budget to Navy shipbuilding to provide some relief from Columbia, which is a national strategic priority, but Esper said he has to consider the whole force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe&#8217;ve got to build the entire, the total force, because we fight as a total force,\u201d Esper said. \u201cOne thing that our war gaming and analysis will look at is the total force fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou just don&#8217;t fight one service. You don&#8217;t fight the Army, you don&#8217;t fight the Air Force, you don&#8217;t fight the Navy, you fight the team, the joint team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first Columbia-class submarine is expected to cost a total of about $8.2 billion, with non-recurring costs included. The remaining 11 ships should cost about $6.2 billion a piece, according to the Congressional Research Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"866\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/COLUMBIA-Image-Surfaced-002.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35970\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/COLUMBIA-Image-Surfaced-002.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/COLUMBIA-Image-Surfaced-002.jpg.jpg?resize=300,217 300w, https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/COLUMBIA-Image-Surfaced-002.jpg.jpg?resize=768,554 768w, https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/COLUMBIA-Image-Surfaced-002.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,739 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A rendering of the future ballistic missile submarine Columbia, the first of a 12-ship class of SSBNs. (Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>A fight brewing in Congress?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But with the Navy expecting to request a third fewer ships in 2021 than they did in 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2020-02-06\/navy-swaps-submarine-for-destroyer-in-2021-budget-request-shift\" target=_blank>according to a Feb. 6 report<\/a> in Bloomberg, taking the funding exclusively from the Navy\u2019s shipbuilding account will likely rankle Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a January 14 letter to Esper and Navy acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2019\/12\/30\/the-pentagon-again-tried-to-decommission-the-carrier-truman-cut-an-air-wing-document-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\">obtained by Defense News<\/a>, the democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee Rep. Joe Courtney said the Defense Department needs to reexamine how it intends to pay for Columbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Courtney said recent reports that the Navy was planning to cut a Virginia-class submarine, slow down the next generation Frigate and stop buying P-8A Poseiden aircraft seem like the chickens coming home to roost for DoD\u2019s inaction on working with Congress to find a plan to fund Columbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The context in which these proposals are occurring is, of course, the planned start of Construction of the Columbia class submarine,&#8221; Courtney wrote. &#8220;While the program is rightfully our nation&#8217;s top national security acquisition priority, it appears the Navy will be solely responsible for funding the program out of its Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Absent a significant increase in programmed resources in the SCN account, it is expected that allocating the funds needed to construct the planned fleet of Columbia-class submarines entirely out of the Navy&#8217;s shipbuilding budget will constrain the service&#8217;s ability to support the full range of shipbuilding priorities for our nation.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congress in 2014 created the National Sea-based deterrent fund to address this issue, Courtney wrote; that fund was designed to allow the Defense Department to use money from across the enterprise to fund the Columbia project, not just money from Navy shipbuilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without finding some alternative funding for the Columbia, the Navy estimated that as many as 30 ships would be removed from the shipbuilding plan. Ultimately, the Navy\u2019s long-term mission shouldn\u2019t have to be impacted by something that is a single-mission national asset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Given the fact that over 70 percent of the nation&#8217;s nuclear deterrent will be deployed on Columbia-class submarines for forty years or more, this &#8216;once in a multi-generational&#8217; expense should not be disproportionately be borne by one branch of the military,&#8221; Courtney wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There has been increasing, bipartisan angst from Capitol Hill as it has become increasingly clear DoD intends to cut new ship construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2017\/12\/14\/trump-just-made-355-ships-national-policy\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nimitz.JPG_057b9d.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump just made a 355-ship Navy national policy<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Achieving a 355-ship Navy is now national policy, but the goal is still a long way off.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On February 6, the day news broke that the Navy intended to request 20 percent fewer ships, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker introduced new legislation that would \u201cdirect the Navy to start construction on at least 12 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, 10 Virginia-class submarines, two Columbia-class submarines, three San Antonio-class amphibious ships, one LHA-class amphibious ship, six John Lewis-class fleet oilers, and five guided missile frigates across FY2021-2025,\u201d according to a press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wicker\u2019s SHIPS Implementation Act likewise calls for the department to leverage the National Sea-based Deterrence Fund to ease the burden on shipbuilding. The bill would \u201crecognize the strategic value of the Columbia-class submarine program by authorizing the use of the National Sea Based Deterrence Fund to support the Columbia-class submarine program with funds in addition to the Navy\u2019s shipbuilding budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bill is about keeping pace with potential adversaries, Wicker said in the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur nation\u2019s Navy is still the envy of the world, but our adversaries are quickly catching up,\u201d Wicker said. \u201cIt is time for Congress to get serious about investing in our fleet and give our sailors and Marines the tools they need to stay ahead of those who wish us harm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Aaron Mehta in Washington contributed to this report<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite years of warnings of the consequences to Navy shipbuilding it it was forced to pay for the new Columbia class ballistic missile submarine alone, Defense Secretary Esper says it&#8217;s the Navy&#8217;s bill to pay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[8,160,16,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3361],"class_list":["post-32937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-naval","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HNZ7RQTGTZHIXJHMEJZUMTQXGY","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2020\/02\/10\/defense-secretary-esper-says-new-us-missile-sub-is-the-navys-bill-setting-up-a-fight-with-congress\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Defense Secretary Esper says nuclear missile sub is \u2018the Navy\u2019s bill,\u2019 setting up a fight with Congress - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite years of warnings of the consequences to Navy shipbuilding it it was forced to pay for the new Columbia class ballistic missile submarine alone, Defense Secretary Esper says it&#039;s the Navy&#039;s bill to pay.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/02\/10\/defense-secretary-esper-says-new-us-missile-sub-is-the-navys-bill-setting-up-a-fight-with-congress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defense Secretary Esper says nuclear missile sub is \u2018the Navy\u2019s bill,\u2019 setting up a fight with Congress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite years of warnings of the consequences to Navy shipbuilding it it was forced to pay for the new Columbia class ballistic missile submarine alone, Defense Secretary Esper says it&#039;s the Navy&#039;s bill to pay.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/02\/10\/defense-secretary-esper-says-new-us-missile-sub-is-the-navys-bill-setting-up-a-fight-with-congress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-10T16:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:37:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David B. 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