Fact-checking Chuck Schumer on Coast Guard staffing’s role in Mexican ship’s Brooklyn Bridge crash

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., raised questions about U.S. Coast Guard staffing after a Mexican naval ship crashed into New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge on May 17, killing two and injuring dozens.

"I’m fighting for answers about whether Trump and DOGE have impacted water traffic control," Schumer posted May 18 on X. DOGE is a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency, which has undertaken efforts to slash government spending.

Schumer’s post continued, "We know they’ve been meddling with U.S. Coast Guard staffing. … And the hiring freeze has limited the ability for the USCG to staff up the Vehicle Traffic Service."

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash, so its cause has not been determined. It also remains unclear what role, if any, the Coast Guard or its Vessel Traffic Service could have played to prevent the accident.

The Department of Homeland Security responded on X to Schumer’s X post, calling his comments "false." The post said the Coast Guard was exempt from hiring freezes, and that the incident "had nothing to do with Vessel Traffic Services — when a ship loses propulsion in a high current area, the vessel needs to engage all capabilities to stop and ideally tugs are nearby to support."

When contacted for comment, Angelo Roefaro, a Schumer spokesman, disputed the DHS statement about the Coast Guard exemption from hiring freezes. Roefaro said the DHS hiring freeze "has limited the ability for the Coast Guard to hire for a variety of critical positions."

According to a May 20 National Transportation Safety Board press conference, the 300-foot-long ship, with 277 people on board, sailed toward the Brooklyn Bridge instead of away from it, accelerating in reverse before hitting the bridge. The Cuauhtémoc was on a global goodwill tour and was heading to Reykjavík, Iceland, for its next stop. The ship left Pier 17, where it had been docked, and sailed south, stopping in Brooklyn to refuel, The New York Times reported. 

The Coast Guard told PolitiFact the agency followed established procedures to "manage commercial traffic and facilitate safe navigation." It noted that a crew from its New York station established a temporary safety zone following the crash. 

Retired Coast Guard officers told us it’s unlikely that Coast Guard staffing played a role in the crash. 

What is changing with U.S. Coast Guard staffing?

On his second day in office, the Trump administration removed Adm. Linda Fagan from her position as the U.S. Coast Guard’s commandant. Since then, Adm. Kevin Lunday has served as acting commandant. On May 21, after the bridge crash, Noem announced Lunday’s official nomination for the position, which requires U.S. Senate confirmation.

On Jan. 20, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget published a memo detailing guidance about Trump’s government-wide hiring freeze order. OMB said the Coast Guard was exempt from the freeze. 

However, on April 3, as part of the Coast Guard’s Force Design 2028 initiative, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed the agency to reduce its flag officer positions by at least 25% by Jan. 1, 2026. 

A Coast Guard spokesperson told PolitiFact the decision is aimed at eliminating "redundant executive oversight" and streamlining decision-making processes.

The spokesperson did not answer questions about how many positions have already been eliminated.

What is the Coast Guard’s role in maritime safety?

The Coast Guard plays several roles in ensuring the safety of people and vessels, Peter Boynton, a retired Coast Guard captain and Northeastern University professor, said. 

For example, the Coast Guard is in charge of placing aids — such as buoys or poles — to show navigators safe channels in the water. The agency is also responsible for operating the Vessel Traffic Services, which uses radars, cameras and transponders to track where boats are and  whether they’re in the right channel, similar to air traffic control.

Boynton said the Vessel Traffic Service center is typically overseen by a Coast Guard captain, a position below flag officer, and is staffed by junior officers or enlisted personnel. It’s unclear whether the Coast Guard’s staffing changes have affected the Vessel Traffic Service’s staffing. 

The Coast Guard also oversees port security and inspects vessels, facilities and people’s credentials to ensure they have adequate licenses to operate the vehicles.

Each sector has a Coast Guard officer serving as port captain, Boynton said. That person has "substantial federal authority over the movement of vessels and the operation of facilities." 

After a crash, the Coast Guard plays a search and rescue role, Boynton said, and establishes a safety zone around the vessel.

A tug boat helps stabilize the Cuauhtémoc, a masted Mexican Navy training ship as it sits stranded near the Manhattan Bridge after colliding with the Brooklyn Bridge, May 17, 2025, in New York. (AP)

Could Coast Guard staffing have affected the crash?

Boynton said the investigation can determine whether the Vessel Traffic Service and Coast Guard Command Center were properly staffed and whether any call for help received a timely response. 

A Coast Guard spokesperson told PolitiFact that the New York Vessel Traffic Service was "fully functional during the incident, operating in accordance with established procedures to manage commercial traffic and facilitate safe navigation."

Boynton said, based on available information, it does not appear that staffing changes would have prevented the incident. He said that the Vessel Traffic Service doesn’t typically handle ship navigation "on this small scale," when the ship has only a short distance to go from pier to channel. The Vessel Traffic Service would have alerted the ship if there was another vessel in its vicinity, for example.

The Vessel Traffic Service has had "big success in preventing accidents, but I am not sure that they could have had a role in this case of striking a bridge," Boynton said. He said the ship’s operators had clear visibility of the bridge and would have known about tidal currents. 

Sam Coonan, a former Coast Guard officer and Massachusetts Maritime Academy emergency management professor, agreed. She said several factors including the Coast Guard’s budget affect Vessel Traffic Service staffing. But she said it is "very unlikely" that staffing played a role, citing the ship’s engine failure. 

She said the Vessel Traffic Service would have tracked the ship’s movements and provided information and navigation advisories to the ship.

But the Vessel Traffic Service "cannot physically control a vessel, particularly a foreign naval vessel, and does not override a captain’s or pilot’s decisions," Coonan said. "It’s designed to enhance situational awareness and reduce collision risks, not to serve as a remote steering function."

Boynton said, based on available information, the factors that likely played a role in the accident were "the vessel, the role of the tug (boat), the role of the (harbor’s) pilot, if there was one, and in particular, the effect of that (river) current being so close to the bridge and what happened to the (ship) engine." He said it seems the engine could have gotten stuck in reverse. 

Bystander videos show a tugboat near the ship as it crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge. There are questions about what role the tugboat played in assisting the ship as it departed the pier. ​