Blumenthal Demands Answers from Acting Navy Secretary After Delayed Disclosure of Suicide Attempts on Board the USS Abraham Lincoln

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao today about suicide attempts on board the USS Abraham Lincoln revealed in a letter to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Cao failed to disclose the information in response to an inquiry Blumenthal sent following reports of devolving conditions within the strike group.

"Eight suicide attempts across a carrier strike group are plainly relevant to questions about mental health and the consequences of an extended deployment. You have an obligation to provide Congress with the facts necessary to conduct oversight, particularly when those facts concern the lives and well-being of the men and women under your leadership," Blumenthal wrote.

"I am requesting that you provide an accounting of the eight suicide attempts, including when they occurred and when senior Navy leaders were informed by September 30. Your response should explain why they were omitted from your September 18 letter to me; and provide the basis for your assertion that there was no statistically significant increase in serious medical emergencies; and detail the steps you will take to protect Sailors' mental health and well-being during future extended deployments. Any response should protect the privacy of the servicemembers involved."

In today's letter, Blumenthal again raised concerns that the Navy is not prepared to prevent similar issues in the future, given that recent carrier deployments have repeatedly stretched long beyond their originally planned durations.

In August, Blumenthal wrote Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Cao demanding to know what action was being taken to improve conditions for sailors deployed on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had at that point been continuously at sea for a record length of nearly seven months.

The full text of today's letter is copied below.

Acting Secretary Cao,

I write regarding your deeply troubling response to my inquiries about the health and well-being of the Sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and your failure to provide Congress with a full account of the mental health crisis facing these servicemembers.

In response to a letter from Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats, you disclosed that "there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group" during the Lincoln's deployment. Yet when I specifically asked you three days earlier whether commanders had identified increases in medical issues, you omitted this fact and instead assured me that the ship had "not seen a statistically significant increase in major safety mishaps, serious medical emergencies, or disciplinary infractions relative to historical baselines for extended deployments."

Eight suicide attempts across a carrier strike group are plainly relevant to questions about mental health and the consequences of an extended deployment. You have an obligation to provide Congress with the facts necessary to conduct oversight, particularly when those facts concern the lives and well-being of the men and women under your leadership.

Having served in the United States Navy, you must know the importance of recognizing warning signs about Sailors' wellbeing. Sailors and their families raised concerns about exhaustion, mental health, and deteriorating conditions aboard the Lincoln. Your responsibility as Secretary is not to dismiss, obscure, or explain away those concerns.

Your own responses now confirm serious problems aboard the Lincoln. The discrepancy between those facts and the assurances you provided to me raises serious questions about leadership and judgment. This failure is even more concerning because the Navy has acknowledged that extended deployments are likely to continue as operational demands strain the carrier force.

You owe Congress, as well as Sailors and their families, an explanation of what you will do differently to ensure the failures aboard the Lincoln are not repeated.

I am requesting that you provide an accounting of the eight suicide attempts, including when they occurred and when senior Navy leaders were informed by September 30. Your response should explain why they were omitted from your September 18 letter to me; and provide the basis for your assertion that there was no statistically significant increase in serious medical emergencies; and detail the steps you will take to protect Sailors' mental health and well-being during future extended deployments. Any response should protect the privacy of the servicemembers involved.

Our Sailors deserve leaders who will confront difficult facts rather than minimize them. Congress deserves complete and truthful answers. Congress should expect both from someone seeking to become Secretary of the Navy.

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