A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report underscores the growing financial burden facing the U.S. Coast Guard as it grapples with a backlog of shore infrastructure projects exceeding $7 billion. The report, presented to the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, reveals that nearly half of the Coast Guard’s shore assets have exceeded their expected service life, contributing to mounting maintenance and recapitalization costs.
The Coast Guard oversees more than 100,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways, relying on a network of shore-based infrastructure valued at $24.5 billion, the report noted, including piers, training centers, airfields, and housing units, all essential for supporting operational readiness.
The $7 billion backlog comprises $6.15 billion in recapitalization and new construction projects and $877 million in deferred maintenance, GAO said. The report revealed the backlog has more than doubled since 2019, which GAO attributes to a consequence of years of deferred maintenance and the need for new facilities to accommodate incoming assets like the offshore patrol cutter.
Despite the escalating costs, annual budget allocations for shore infrastructure continue to fall short of Coast Guard targets. The GAO report found that between fiscal years 2019 and 2025, the President’s budget requests failed to meet the Coast Guard’s infrastructure funding targets. According to the report, Coast Guard officials state that current funding levels only cover urgent corrective maintenance, leaving little room for long-term infrastructure improvements.
GAO said a significant challenge remains the lack of accurate cost estimates for hundreds of projects, making the true scope of required funding even greater than the reported $7 billion. The GAO warns that without a more transparent budget process, Congress is left without the critical information needed to make informed funding decisions.
The GAO previously made recommendations in 2019 to improve shore infrastructure management. While some progress has been made, GOA said four recommendations remain unresolved, including clear established goals and benchmarks to assess maintenance effectiveness, aligning infrastructure investments with mission priorities, fully implementing predictive models to optimize spending, and providing Congress with better budget transparency on infrastructure needs.
The report emphasizes that implementing these recommendations would help the Coast Guard manage its resources more efficiently and prevent further cost escalation.
GAO stated the infrastructure backlog is not just a budgetary issue, suggesting it also poses a strategic risk to Coast Guard operations. Without adequate investment, mission-critical facilities will continue to degrade, potentially impacting response times, personnel readiness, and overall operational effectiveness, GAO said.
The GAO-25-108064 report was released to the public on March 5, 2025.
