The inevitable consequence of sticking with Arleigh Burke - a mid 80s design, which while admittedly very capable, means that there's no-one in NAVSEA who knows how to specify and/or design a ship anymore. Which leaves them dependent BIW and HII for continuation of that line, while begging Fincantieri / MM to dig them out of a hole.
They're deeply scarred by the Zumwalt and LCS experiences. Strangely, the UK might be in a marginally better position in that we have actually conducted 2 (and a half if you count T31) surface combatant designs this century.
Same lesson the US are learning on aircraft design. Long duration slow burn programmes result in huge programme costs and loss of skills over time. Short, sharp design efforts generate wider cadres of people and get to the result quicker.