Summary#
This bill is the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025. It updates funding levels and staffing goals for the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2025–2029. It creates a civilian Secretary of the Coast Guard position and changes how some Coast Guard leaders and offices report. The bill sets new reporting and oversight rules for major ship and aircraft buys, homeporting projects, polar icebreakers, and unmanned systems. It adds new programs and authorities for property, cyber work in foreign territories, and partnerships with tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. It changes hiring and personnel rules, including family leave, direct hire authority for certain jobs, behavioral health staffing and pilot programs, tuition and retention incentives, housing options, and temporary travel allowances for some Alaska assignments. The bill also expands safety and environmental rules for ships and ports, updates oil spill response tools and reporting, and creates many new reports and reviews by the Coast Guard and the Government Accountability Office. It includes many reforms and new procedures for preventing and responding to sexual assault and harassment, actions related to evidence and records retention, victim care, academy oversight, special victim capabilities, and transparency and accountability for senior leaders.
What it means for you#
- Service members and Coast Guard civilians: the bill directs more staff, training, and oversight in health, safety, and personnel management. It creates family-leave and hiring changes and new pay or incentive authorities for some roles. It also requires improved behavioral health services and pilot programs.
- Residents near Coast Guard bases and ports: the bill requires reports and plans for homeporting, base readiness, tsunami preparedness at coastal bases, and Great Lakes icebreaking plans. It changes rules for abandoned vessel listings and port safety.
- Marine industry, shipbuilders, and technology firms: the bill adds acquisition transparency, quarterly briefings, limits on foreign shipyard construction for certain cutters, and several studies and pilot programs for unmanned and autonomous maritime systems.
- Students and Academy communities: the bill updates Coast Guard Academy oversight, safety, cadet room security, and procedures for cadet transfers in certain sexual-assault cases. It also creates or expands academy-related programs and reviews.
Expenses#
- The bill amends annual authorization levels in 14 U.S.C. 4902. Among the figures it sets are: $11,287,500,000 for fiscal year 2025; $11,851,875,000 for 2026; $12,500,000,000 for 2027; $13,000,000,000 for 2028; and $13,500,000,000 for 2029.
- It sets multi-year authorization amounts for other accounts, including amounts of $3,627,600,000 for 2025, $3,651,480,000 for 2026, $3,700,000,000 for 2027, $3,750,000,000 for 2028, and $3,800,000,000 for 2029 in another specified account, and smaller annual amounts for other categories as amended in the bill text.
- Several provisions make funds or receipts available until expended (for example, certain amounts from enhanced use property agreements and receipts for ice patrol services) or change the availability rules for collected amounts.
- The bill also places requirements and limits on the timing of certain procurement or modernization funds (for example, a report requirement before some helicopter procurement funds may be obligated in fiscal years 2027–2029).
- For many other activities the bill requires studies, briefings, and plans but does not itself set new specific dollar amounts; where cost information is not provided in the bill text, there is no publicly available information on total costs or budgetary effects in this text.
Proponents' View#
No publicly available information.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.