Senate, House Defense Bills Propose Restrictions on U.S. Warships Built in Foreign Yards; Legislation Limits Navy Secretary’s Ability to Rename Ships

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressional defense committees voted to pump the brakes on the Trump administration’s push to buy foreign-built warships, USNI News has learned. House and Senate authorizers and House appropriators are placing limitations on the executive’s ability to pursue foreign warship designs built in allied shipyards abroad. The Senate Armed Services Committee’s mark of the Fiscal Year 2027 defense policy bill removes the presidential waiver authority from Title 10 that allows the commander-in-chief to use an undefined “national security interest” exception to buy foreign warships for use in the U.S. armed forces. However, the committee is extending the authority