Updated

US Central Command publicly rejected circulating reports about deaths aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during its deployment to the Middle East amid the war with Iran. Centcom said on X that claims that seven sailors died in a brawl aboard the carrier, and suggestions of a spike in suicidal ideation among the crew, were "FALSE," stating that no service members aboard the carrier have died. The denial followed calls by US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be removed over his handling of the carrier. Schumer wrote that Hegseth was "completely incompetent" and that "our brave sailors are paying the price in a horrific and unfathomable way." The dispute has turned the Lincoln's extended deployment into a domestic political flashpoint over the Pentagon's management of forces committed to the campaign against Iran.