The Navy has seen better days. In the 1980s, it reached nearly 600 ships and became an ever-present reminder of U.S. strength around the world. Today, we are just short of 300 vessels, a ceiling we have been unable to crack in 15 years. Under President Joe Biden’s direction, the fleet would shrink further.

Over the last six months, everyone in charge of the Navy has said they support the goal of building the fleet up to 355 ships. But that “support” was nowhere to be seen in the Biden budget, which called for fewer ships.