I never thought it would take so much time to install the EMALS. They need to figure out some way to speed that part of the construction up on the next ship.
I think you need to revise your expectations and look at how long it takes other carriers to do work.
First, how do you know who much progress in fitting out the EM catapults itself has progressed? We cannot see anything after all -- the work is all done under the covers.
Second, how long do you think it takes for a ship of this size and complexity to complete its fitting out overall?
CV-17 Shandong as a smaller, simpler STOBAR carrier was launched in April 2017 and went on its first sea trial in May 2018, needing over one year of fitting out between launch and first sea trial.
CV-18 Fujian, is a bigger, newer and more complex carrier with catapults, and it was launched in June 2022 this year. At minimum, we should have expected a year and a half years between launch and first sea trial -- more realistically two years of sea trials. So we shouldn't expect CV-18 to go on its first sea trial before January 2024 to June 2024 at the earliest.
That is all very normal for carriers, and the time taken for other carriers is the same if not longer.