Navy Secretary John Phelan said he supports right to repair after recounting that six of eight ovens aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford were out of service and sailors told him they could fix them but had to wait for a contractor. His June 10, 2025, testimony signals support for repair rights and closer scrutiny of future contracts—not a newly implemented Navy-wide policy.
What Phelan said about the ovens aboard USS Gerald R. Ford
During a June 10, 2025, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of the Navy’s posture and fiscal year 2026 defense authorization request, Senator Elizabeth Warren asked Phelan about right to repair. He said he supported it and described a visit to USS Gerald R. Ford. According to Phelan, the ship had eight ovens, served 15,300 meals a day, and had six ovens out of service. He said sailors told him they could repair the ovens but had to wait for the contractor.
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“You are telling me someone can’t fix an oven? We have got a lot of engineers,” Phelan said. He also cited ship elevators as another example of diagnosis and repair depending on contractors. The hearing records his account; it does not establish what failed, how long the ovens were unavailable, or whether the crew had the parts, tools, technical information, and authority needed to complete a repair.
What the Navy secretary did—and did not—commit to
Phelan said, “I am a huge supporter of right to repair.” He also said he wanted future contracting to preserve government control of intellectual property and the ability to repair equipment. When Warren asked about comprehensive rights and legislation, he agreed with the goal but added, “How we specifically go about that, I need to look at and understand better.”
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- Part Number 316557230 (AP4510794) replaces 1564997, 316418330, AH2378937, EA2378937, PS2378937.
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That distinction matters: his testimony expressed support and an intention to examine how contracts address repair rights. It did not announce a completed policy change or establish that existing Navy contracts had been rewritten. Warren described the issue as an opportunity to “explore how to best leverage right to repair and technical data rights within acquisition contracts to enable organic repair capacity.”
Why repair rights involve more than permission
For sailors or other government maintenance personnel to repair equipment without waiting for a contractor, they may need several things to line up:
- Technical data and intellectual-property rights: Access to the manuals, diagnostic information, and other technical data needed to understand and repair the equipment.
- Parts and special tools: The replacement materials and equipment required to carry out the work.
- Training and authority: Personnel who are trained and permitted to perform the repair.
- Safety, security, and contractor support: Contract terms and safeguards that account for necessary restrictions and support.
The hearing identifies the issue as a contracting and repair-capacity question, but does not lay out a specific Navy proposal or compare it with an enacted alternative.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What GAO found about Navy maintenance more broadly
A separate 2024 Government Accountability Office report on sailor-led maintenance found that shipboard work can be hampered by parts and material shortages and by allowance lists that are outdated or inaccurate. GAO said fleet readiness depends on having the right parts, technical manuals, and special tools available when operators or maintenance personnel need them. It also documented sailors cannibalizing parts from other ships, buying items locally, and reverse-engineering parts.
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For fiscal years 2017–2022, GAO found that ships had about 50% of requested parts and materials onboard when needed, on average. During that same period, an average of 6% of active battle fleet ships met the Navy’s target of having 65% of requested parts and materials onboard when needed. These are fleet parts-availability measures—not figures for repairs completed or ovens working—and the report does not show that parts shortages caused the Ford oven outages.
What remains unknown about the Ford ovens
The hearing testimony and the reviewed GAO report do not identify the ovens’ manufacturer or model, the failed parts, the contractor or relevant contract clauses, or how long the ovens were out of service. Without those details, the account cannot establish whether the barrier was a lack of technical data, parts, tools, contractual permission, or something else. Phelan’s anecdote is evidence of the concern he raised, not a technical diagnosis of the oven problem.
Warren also cited about $1.2 million in travel costs for one contractor repair order on USS Montgomery in Singapore, attributing the figure to GAO. The hearing transcript substantiates that she made the statement, but the figure is not independently verified here and concerns a different ship and repair order.
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