The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security rebuked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday after he claimed that a tall Mexican Navy training ship crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday could potentially have been avoided.
Schumer insinuated in a post to X that President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has made sweeping job cuts across several federal government agencies, could have played a role in the Brooklyn Bridge crash.
The New York Democrat added that he believes Americans “need action for our national security, infrastructure protection, and public safety.”
“With the Brooklyn Bridge strike last night: I’m fighting for answers about whether Trump and DOGE have impacted water traffic control,” Schumer wrote in his X post.
The DHS pushed back against Schumer’s comments in a Sunday X post, stating that Schumer’s claims about cuts made by Trump’s DOGE potentially contributing to the ship accident were false. The agency added that Schumer needs to “get his facts straight before he misleads the American people.”
Minority Leader Schumer’s accusations that a hiring freeze led to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services not being adequately staffed are FALSE. The US Coast Guard has been fully supported and been exempt from hiring freezes. Additionally, this incident had nothing to do… https://t.co/BR4iJX2oX9
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 18, 2025
“Minority Leader Schumer’s accusations that a hiring freeze led to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services not being adequately staffed are FALSE,” the DHS wrote in the social media post.
The post added: “The U.S. Coast Guard has been fully supported and been exempt from hiring freezes. Additionally, this 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.”
Schumer’s office and the DHS did not immediately respond for comment.