A pair of Democratic lawmakers is calling for hearings after the Navy disclosed that there were eight suicide attempts during the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group’s record-long time at sea.

“That this administration can find endless taxpayer dollars for bombs, ballrooms, and billionaires, but cannot take care of our service members, is completely unacceptable,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Friday. “The American people need hearings, accountability and a clear plan to protect our service members and prioritize American families.”

Gillibrand was joined in her call for hearings by Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., who represents the area that includes Naval Station Great Lakes where Navy recruits receive basic training.

“Every American should be outraged by this Administration’s failure to equip our service members with the tools and support they need to carry out a successful deployment and the blatant lies about the conditions sailors were experiencing on the USS Abraham Lincoln,” Schneider said in a statement.

The aircraft carrier Lincoln spent a record-breaking 286 days at sea without a port visit after being deployed to waters off Venezuela to support operations there before it was redirected to the Middle East to support the war against Iran.

In August, military news outlets Military Times and Stars and Stripes reported on concerns from family members of those on the carrier that the grueling deployment was causing mental health crises for the sailors, including at least two who tried to jump overboard. The ship reportedly faced food and water shortages and disrupted communications with family, among other hardships.

The reports prompted an outcry from lawmakers, mostly Democrats, but were downplayed by the Trump administration.

But in a letter to Gillibrand dated Tuesday, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao confirmed many of the details of the reports.

“Since the beginning of Lincoln’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the Lincoln crew and sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote in response to a letter Gillibrand and other senators sent the Pentagon in August.

That rate among the estimated 7,500-person crew of the strike group is roughly the same as the active-duty Navy’s attempted suicide rate in 2024 service-wide, the most recent year for which Pentagon data is available. That year saw 356 suicide attempts among about 337,000 active-duty sailors.

Cao also confirmed that one sailor from the Lincoln went overboard in August, but was quickly recovered, treated onboard and then transferred off the ship for further care. Additionally, one sailor attempted to go overboard in March, but was stopped by shipmates, treated and sent back to his home port, Cao added.

In addition to Gillibrand and Schneider’s calls for hearings, several Democrats have pointed to Cao’s admission to bolster their calls to end the Iran war.

“Completely heartbreaking. We owe our servicemembers so much more than these forever wars,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., posted on social media this week.

Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., who has called for an inspector general investigation into conditions on the ship, which is homeported in San Diego in Schiff’s state, also cited the Lincoln as he argued in favor of a war powers resolution this week.

“As the president’s senseless war has dragged on, it has taken a heavy toll on the lives and well-being of our servicemembers and their families, many of whom are in California,” Schiff said on the floor ahead of Thursday’s vote on the resolution, which fell short of being adopted by the Senate. “After months of denials, the Defense Department confirmed what has been reported for months, and that is, deteriorating mental health aboard the Lincoln and multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard.”