Were Reports Of The U.S. Navy Retiring The Aircraft Carrier USS Truman Just A Ploy To Get More Money?

David Axe, National Interest: This U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Won't Be Headed to the Scrapper

Congress won't let the USS Harry S. Truman go.

Lawmakers are lining up to reject the U.S. Navy's proposal to prematurely decommission, as a cost-saving measure, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman .

The Navy likely anticipated the widespread opposition, observers pointed out, underscoring that the sailing branch apparently floated Truman's early retirement as a ploy to secure additional funding in the 2020 budget.

The ploy apparently is working.

There is "zero" chance the House Armed Services Committee will approve the decommissioning, said Rep. Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat and the chair of the HASC seapower subcommittee.

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Update: The Puzzling Case Of The Navy's Attempt To Retire Supercarrier USS Harry S. Truman Early (Warzone/The Drive)

WNU Editor: The original Pentagon/Navy budget proposal was to only allocate $17 million for the Truman overhaul, a sign that the U.S. Navy may retire the USS Truman .... Pentagon Plan to Sideline Carrier Truman Will Net Just $17M in FY 2020 (USNI News). And the reason for this low budget allocation was because of an agreement between former Secretary of Defense Mattis (who believed the age of the aircraft carrier was over), and the U.S. Navy's desire to buy 2 Gerald Ford-class carriers in one contract.... Mattis and the Navy got into 'a mini civil war' over the future of aircraft carriers, and the Navy could still lose (Business Insider/Foreign Policy). Secretary of Defense Mattis is gone, and the U.S. Navy will get it's two new Gerald Ford-class carriers. And if Congressional reaction is any indication, they will also keep the USS Truman.