Congress established the Commission in the National Defense Authorization Act to provide an independent, bipartisan review to policymakers on the future of American seapower. The Commission is specifically tasked to examine the structure of the fleet and the force-generation system that produces naval combat power – from shipbuilding and acquisition to maintenance and repair, workforce, training, and modernization – so that the Navy can meet combatant command requirements in a more contested maritime environment.

Hearings began in March 2026 and will continue throughout the year.  The Commission anticipates issuing initial findings in January 2027 and maintaining an active liaison with Congress through the remainder of 2027. Throughout this effort, the Commission is focused on producing practical options for lawmakers and the Department of the Navy – not abstract concepts – including concrete choices for force design, industrial base reform, and the policies that enable a Navy and Marine Corps team capable of sustained operations and rapid surge when required.

The Commission’s work is informed by the growing gap between the demands placed on naval forces and the industrial and operational capacity available to meet those demands. The Navy is asked to cover an expanding set of missions with a fleet that is smaller, older, and increasingly strained by readiness shortfalls, maintenance backlogs, and delays in delivering new capability. At the same time, a peer naval rival is translating industrial scale into maritime power and contesting sea control, while regional crises continue to generate persistent demand for naval presence and response.

In partnership with the executive branch and informed by outreach to the fleet and the industrial base, the Commission is concentrating its early work on three interrelated questions: (1) how the Navy should integrate a hybrid fleet and unmanned systems in a way that matches operational reality and fiscal constraints; (2) what it will take to fix recurring shipbuilding and maintenance failures that have eroded deterrence and wasted taxpayer dollars; and (3) how the nation can balance constant global demand for naval crisis response with the need to rebuild and modernize the fleet for long-term competition.

The Commission will also undertake a focused analytic effort that begins with a simple question: a Navy for what? The Commission intends to develop threat- and budget-informed planning scenarios grounded in fiscal realities, assess how alternative fleet structures (including mixes of manned and unmanned ships and aircraft and Marine Corps formations) perform across those scenarios, and examine whether the American maritime industrial base can build and sustain the fleet the strategy demands.

Bipartisan urgency for a modernized fleet remains a rare constant in Washington, spanning from President Trump’s “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” Executive Order and its mandated Maritime Action Plan to the “north star” of readiness prioritized by former SECNAV John C. Phelan. While former SECNAV Carlos Del Toro stressed that the Navy’s future hinges on today’s modernization, Phelan emphasized that shipbuilding throughput bolstered by advanced manufacturing and workforce investments. These visions often meet hard economic realities that call for bold strategic thinking. Chairman Mike Rogers and Ranking Member Adam Smith both cite persistent budget and schedule failures, while Senators Roger Wicker and Jack Reed warn that the U.S. struggles to grow its fleet because the industrial base simply cannot support the necessary demand. As a result, the commission will produce both draft legislation and recommend a mix of policy reforms at the department and service level to revitalize American seapower for the challenges ahead.