Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (NH-02) joined members of the New Hampshire and Maine congressional delegations in raising concerns around a new rule proposed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Merit Systems Protection Board that would weaken civil service protections and undermine workers’ rights at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY). In their letter, the lawmakers note that the rule would threaten workforce recruitment and retention at the Shipyard—which already needs 700 workers annually to keep pace—and potentially harm U.S. naval readiness.
The lawmakers wrote, in part: “We write in strong opposition to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)’s proposed rule ‘Promoting Employee Accountability,’ Docket OPM-2025-0012 (RIN 3206-AO91). This proposed rule would weaken longstanding civil service protections that promote merit-based employment, due process and the recruitment and retention of skilled workers. Moreover, as Members of Congress who represent nearly eight thousand civilian workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, we are concerned about the proposed rule’s impact on workers essential to our national security.”
They continued: “As you are no doubt aware, the men and women who work at our public shipyards are critical members of our defense industrial base, without whom the ability to repair, retrofit and refuel our country’s submarines would be in jeopardy. In our states, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) has nearly eight thousand civilian employees, creating more than $1.5 billion in annual economic impact in surrounding communities. […] PNSY currently needs to hire over 700 workers annually to meet the Navy’s demand – which is an increase from 550 over the past two years. Further, policies that reduce workplace protections risk making federal service less attractive to qualified candidates. Due to civilian hiring quotas imposed by the Office of Personnel Management, PNSY has struggled to onboard workers and cannot risk additional delays or departures. If the Administration intends to retain this political litmus test at our public shipyards, the costs of unnecessarily losing more skilled workers through this proposed rule far outweigh any potential benefit.”
They concluded: “By stripping away the procedures that keep discipline fair for civilian employees doing the work of naval readiness and refusing to consider important factors, the proposed rule introduces costly unpredictability in the workforce and needlessly undermines readiness. We are concerned this will increase attrition in the critical and experienced workforce that keeps our submarine fleet ready, ultimately harming the shipyard’s ability to meet the Navy’s needs and threatening our national security. We, therefore, ask you to withdraw OPM and MSPB’s proposed rule, ‘Promoting Employee Accountability,’ and consider alternatives that preserve federal workers’ longstanding civil service protections.”
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and signed by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Angus King (I-ME) and U.S. Representatives Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Chellie Pingree (ME-01).
A full copy of the letter can be read HERE.
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee and former U.S. Navy Reserve intelligence officer, Congresswoman Goodlander has made supporting the federal workers who keep New Hampshire and the nation safe a central focus of her work in Congress. Goodlander led and helped secure protections in the enacted Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act to prevent hiring freezes, reductions in force, and unjustified hiring delays at public shipyards like Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. She and Pappas also introduced the bipartisan Pay Our Public Shipyard Workers Act to ensure public shipyard employees receive the paychecks they have earned during government shutdowns. She cosponsored the bipartisan Protect America’s Workforce Act, which passed the House and would restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers at facilities including Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, FCI Berlin, and the Manchester VA Medical Center. Goodlander has also pressed the Trump Administration to protect the Shipyard from hiring freezes and workforce cuts and joined New Hampshire’s congressional delegation in urging the Air National Guard to exempt firefighters and air traffic controllers at Pease Air National Guard Base from proposed civilian workforce reductions. She and Pappas also introduced the bipartisan Federal Correctional Officer Paycheck Protection Act to improve recruitment and retention and address chronic staffing shortages.
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