In committee
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
This legislation authorizes billions of dollars through 2029 to expand the Coast Guard's active-duty force to 60,000 members and purchase new cutters, icebreakers, and aircraft. It makes sweeping changes to how the service handles sexual assault and harassment by creating an independent chief prosecutor, improving survivor care and transfers, adding secure locks to Academy dorms, and preserving case evidence for 50 years. The bill also expands military benefits—including parental leave for reservists and travel assistance for personnel in Alaska—while updating commercial sailor licensing, creating a national registry for abandoned boats, and making reckless boating that causes serious injury a felony.
People affected—The bill specifies active-duty troop strength targets increasing from 50,000 in FY2025 to 60,000 in FY2028–2029 (Sec. 102) and student training quotas, but the broader affected population—including civilian personnel, Coast Guard reservists, commercial merchant mariners, and vessel crews—is not determinable from the text provided.
Fiscal magnitude$92.0Bprovisional · pending reviewDirect authorizations of appropriations in Sec. 101 across FY2025–2029 total $91,926,744,000 ($66,639,375,000 for Operations and Support; $18,529,080,000 for Procurement, Construction, and Improvements; $308,116,000 for Research and Development; and $6,450,173,000 for Retired Pay), plus $60,000,000 authorized in Sec. 313 for commercial fishing safety and training grants ($6,000,000 annually across FY2025–2029 under two grant accounts).
Reach65provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Spending vs. restraint+52Workplace standards+35Substance use & mental health+30Pollution & development+25Sentencing & corrections−28Drugs & enforcement−22Ethics & oversight+55Courts & liability−22Military budget+50Native American affairs+25
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Coast Guard service membersExpands parental and foster leave for active and reserve members (Sec. 241), increases tuition assistance and reduces service obligations for members completing sea duty (Sec. 250), provides travel reimbursements for members stationed in Alaska (Sec. 249), offers maternity uniform allowances for officers (Sec. 245), and establishes embedded behavioral health technicians at busy clinics (Sec. 248).
- Coast Guard victims and survivors of sexual misconductEstablishes an independent Chief Prosecutor with exclusive authority over serious sexual and felony offenses (Sec. 201(k)), establishes a safe-to-report policy protecting victims from discipline for minor collateral infractions (Sec. 505), mandates a 50-year evidence retention policy (Sec. 502), provides rights to medical evaluations before involuntary separation (Sec. 517), updates expedited transfer options (Sec. 528), and allows temporary career separations without bonus clawbacks (Sec. 529).
- Undergraduate students at minority-serving and rural collegesAuthorizes reenrollment and up to $25,000 per year in tuition, books, and fees under the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative for undergraduate students who enlist in the Reserve and commit to three years of active-duty officer service (Sec. 246).
- Merchant mariners and deck credential applicantsReduces required sea service days for deck ratings (Sec. 301(a)(2)(m)), permits classroom, lab, and simulator time to count toward sea time (Sec. 301(a)(2)(m)), allows noncitizen nationals to receive credentials (Sec. 301(a)(2)(k)), and ensures renewed credentials take effect immediately upon expiration of prior credentials without gaps (Sec. 301(a)(2)(q)).
- Commercial fishermenProvides $6,000,000 annually through fiscal year 2029 for safety training and research grants addressing mental health, substance use disorder, and worker fatigue (Sec. 313), and extends the suspension of enforcement against using AIS devices to mark fishing gear through 2029 (Sec. 345).
- Civilian firefighters at remote Coast Guard stationsAuthorizes recruitment, relocation, and retention bonuses for civilian firefighters working at remote Coast Guard fire stations (Sec. 251).
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)Grants fee-free use of the cutter USCGC Storis for scientific research (Sec. 216), provides a two-year regulatory exemption for small uncrewed maritime systems performing ocean research (Sec. 332), and grants a permanent seat on the Automated and Autonomous Vessel Policy Council (Sec. 334).
Who it burdens
- Commercial passenger vessel operatorsMust maintain medical supplies to prevent sexually transmitted diseases after sexual assaults and install electronic key systems that log the date, time, and identity of all crew members accessing passenger staterooms (Sec. 343).
- Waterfront facilities and commercial vessels with facility security plansFace unannounced federal security exercises (Sec. 325), unannounced drills and inspections of onboard salvage and firefighting equipment (Sec. 401(a)), and restrictions barring visits from representatives of foreign state sponsors of terrorism (Sec. 321(c)).
- Vessel operators and boat ownersFaces heightened penalties making grossly negligent operation resulting in serious bodily injury a class E felony punishable by civil fines up to $35,000 (Sec. 311), and risks fines up to $500 plus vessel removal costs for abandoning vessels on navigable waters (Sec. 347).
- Foreign vessels operating in the Straits of MackinacRequires foreign vessels navigating the Straits of Mackinac to operate under the direction of a registered United States or Canadian commercial pilot (Sec. 314).
- Coast Guard personnel disciplined or convicted for sexual misconductAllows discharge review boards to downgrade honorable discharges to general discharges upon clear and convincing evidence of sexual assault or harassment during active service (Sec. 508), permits reopening retired grade determinations to reduce rank and retirement pay (Sec. 525), and mandates service record notations for misconduct convictions (Sec. 526).
Who backs it
- Federal taxpayersAuthorizes tens of billions of dollars out of the federal Treasury for Coast Guard operations, capital acquisitions, research and development, and retired pay and health care for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 (Sec. 101), as well as grant funding for commercial fishing safety programs (Sec. 313).
Who opposes it
- Chinese classification societiesExplicitly prohibits the Secretary from delegating Coast Guard vessel inspection or classification authority to any classification society headquartered in the People's Republic of China (Sec. 346).