Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao has confirmed that eight service members assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group attempted suicide during the vessel's deployment, in a disclosure that has reignited a sharp political battle over sailor welfare and Pentagon leadership. Cao made the revelation in a 22 September letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees.

What the Acting Navy Secretary Disclosed

'Since the beginning of Lincoln's deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group – this number includes the Lincoln crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,' Cao wrote in the letter.

The letter provided details about one of the eight incidents. 'One Sailor attempted to go overboard in March and was stopped by his shipmates,' Cao noted, adding that the sailor received immediate medical care and subsequently returned to homeport. Details about the remaining seven attempts — including the timing and the current condition of those involved — were not included in the material released by Gillibrand's office.

Gillibrand's Criticism of Trump and Hegseth

The disclosure drew an immediate and pointed response from Senator Gillibrand, who used the figures to renew her criticism of President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Earlier reports of poor living and working conditions aboard the Lincoln had reportedly been characterised by the administration as misinformation.

'What Trump and Secretary Hegseth dismissed as 'fake news' turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members,' Gillibrand said. She added: 'Our troops and their families make immense sacrifices every single day, yet the president dismissed them with open disrespect. That this administration can find endless taxpayer dollars for bombs, ballrooms, and billionaires, but cannot take care of our service members, is completely unacceptable.'

Gillibrand's statement did not announce new legislation but significantly escalated pressure on the Navy and the Pentagon to explain how commanders responded to the attempts and what additional mental-health support was extended across the strike group.

Background: The August Letter and Earlier Concerns

Cao's response followed an August letter that Gillibrand and 14 other senators sent to Hegseth, seeking greater transparency after reports described poor living and working conditions aboard the carrier. That letter requested information about the deployment timeline, the expected return date, operational readiness, medical and mental-health resources, living conditions, and support for the families of deployed sailors. The White House and Pentagon did not, according to the material released by Gillibrand's office, provide an updated response to her criticism.

The Scale of a Carrier Strike Group Deployment

The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group encompasses thousands of personnel — aboard the aircraft carrier itself, its embarked air wing, escorting destroyers, and the headquarters staffs supporting the deployment. Carrier deployments routinely require sailors to work for extended periods in confined environments, under demanding operational schedules and with limited contact with their families. Mental-health experts and veterans' advocates have long flagged that combination as a significant risk factor for psychological distress and self-harm.

What Happens Next

The Navy and the Department of Defence now face mounting congressional pressure to detail how each of the eight suicide attempts was handled, what mental-health protocols were in place, and whether those protocols will be strengthened for future deployments. Gillibrand's office indicated the matter would continue to be pursued. The USS Abraham Lincoln's expected return date and the Navy's plans to relieve personnel aboard were among the questions still outstanding as of the time of writing.