The Brooklyn Bridge ship crash, which resulted in fatalities and massive damage to the bridge and ship, was immediately politicized by the left, with many Democrats blaming DOGE cuts for the incident.

However, according to Newsmax, at least one prominent, local Democrat, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, broke ranks with his party on the matter, denying that DOGE cuts had anything to do with the horrific incident. 

The pushback on his party came in the wake of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) of New York blaming cuts to the Coast Guard for the bridge incident.

DOGE and the Trump administration have made massive cuts to most areas of government, including the Coast Guard, at least in getting rid of DEI-related programs in favor of bolstering the military's primary mission.

What's going on?

The Democratic Senate Minority Leader wrote an entire post on his X account pointing the blame at the Trump administration and DOGE.

"We know they've been meddling with U.S. Coast Guard staffing," Schumer wrote.

He blamed Trump for firing certain Coast Guard commanders, pointing out that the position is still vacant.

"Trump relieved Admiral Linda Fagan as Commandant of the USCG, and that position is still vacant. And the hiring freeze has limited the ability for the USCG to staff up the Vehicle Traffic Service, that's their traffic control operation that acts like Air Traffic Control but on water."

He added, "We need action for our national security, infrastructure protection, and public safety."

DHS responds

Adams was asked by reporters if he thinks cutbacks by DOGE were partly to blame for the situation.

"Unless the senator knows something that I don't know; but I don't know what other role the Coast Guard would have played," he said. "We have the boats that were needed, we have the manpower that was needed, and we responded accordingly to get those 19 injured off the ship."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also responded to the reports.

"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," DHS wrote.

"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."