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So, what he's done is effectively halt Doris Miller. The redesign will take a long time, and no building on that vessel will happen in the meantime. If Congress won't fund the redesign, his memo does little more than prevent the executive branch from building a carrier. The executive branch must legally follow these memos, but not Congress. If they won't play along with funding, then money for steam will not be available, and the executive branch will not legally be able to use anything else. So, we won't be doing any more work on Doris Miller if that happens. Will be interesting to see what comes out of Congress now.

While I like the authorization to use foreign ship yards, I forget the details of how legal it is. There is a law--Byrnnes Tollefson--that prohibits building government vessels abroad. However, I do believe I recall the president having some limited authority to circumvent that, and what you link authorizes two vessels per yard. Probably within the legal limits. This, I actually like.

As far as a fifth shipyard, the more the merrier.

The likely loss of Doris Miller will only be felt years from now, when whichever Nimitz class it was to replace retires, and Miller is not there to assume the role. For the present..."Oh, well." This is not the last word. It's the start of a show. Get popcorn.