Overview
- The carrier left San Diego on November 21, 2025, and has now spent more than 250 days at sea with only brief port visits, a stretch family members and outlets describe as a modern record for a U.S. carrier.
- Family members and specialty military outlets say several sailors have tried or considered jumping overboard, with some reports citing up to six attempts and others describing crew interventions that stopped individual sailors.
- Relatives and lawmakers describe degraded habitability on board, citing food shortages, moldy showers, broken toilets, long stretches without hot water, laundry outages, and shortages of basic hygiene items.
- The Navy says the ship remains operational, reports do not show an identified rise in suicidal ideation, and sailors have access to counselors and chaplains, while leaders say USS Theodore Roosevelt is being prepared to relieve the Abraham Lincoln but offer no public date.
- Senators and members of Congress have demanded formal briefings and records on each deployment extension and warned the episode could affect safety, retention and the Navy's ability to sustain prolonged operations if not addressed.