As part of the Navy's FY 2015 budget, Pentagon officials hinted at the possibility of taking "George Washington" out of service due to budget reductions. The ship is due for her mid-life refueling and overhaul in 2016, which will take three years and cost over $3 billion. The decision to replace "George Washington" with the newer "Ronald Reagan" in her area of operations near Japan means decommissioning the ship would not affect American carrier presence in the region. In 2011, the Congressional Budget Office had found that the elimination of a carrier and an air wing would save about $7 billion from 2012 through 2021, the time at which "George Washington" would be expected to return to service. is the oldest ship in the class and would be expected to be decommissioned early instead of "George Washington". However, "Nimitz" has undergone a mid-life refuelling and is not due for decommission until the mid 2020s, whereas "George Washington" has yet to undergo this procedure, providing an opportunity to remove the ship from service before the planned expenditure.