Shipyards, military clinics exempted from Pentagon hiring freeze

Defense Department leaders announced shipyards, depots and medical treatment facilities will be exempted from a department-wide hiring freeze because of their critical role in military readiness, in response to a growing outcry over the planned workforce reforms.

The issue of shipyard workers has become a rallying point for numerous advocates and lawmakers in recent days, especially afterPresident Donald Trump vowed in his address to Congress earlier this month to establish a new office of shipbuilding within the White House in order to protect the industry.