Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is holding up hundreds of Coast Guard promotions over an issue with Eastern Shipbuilding Group, a Florida shipbuilder.
In a statement to The Hill on Wednesday, Scott said he has questions about what happened with contracts with the company since President Trump took office and “they haven’t been answered yet.”
Eastern Shipbuilding Group, based in Panama City, in 2016 won a multibillion-dollar deal with the Coast Guard to deliver four new Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC).
But the company, which was supposed to deliver the first such ship in June 2023, hit several snags in production. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last year decided to cut the order from four down to two vessels, citing “failing to meet delivery agreements.”