US EditionU.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan leaving Trump administration: Pentagon
Hung Cao will serve as acting secretary as the Pentagon gives no reason for Phelan’s sudden exit.
- On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is departing the administration effective immediately. Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said the department is 'grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy'.
- Reports suggest Phelan's exit followed months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over shipbuilding reform speeds. The Pentagon provided no official reason, though sources indicate Phelan was fired.
- Undersecretary Hung Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran with combat deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, assumes the acting secretary role. Cao's military background contrasts sharply with Phelan, a businessman who lacked prior service.
- The Navy maintains a blockade of Iranian ports and three aircraft carriers deployed in or heading to the Middle East amid a delicate ceasefire. This leadership transition raises questions about command stability during sensitive operations.
- Phelan's departure marks the latest in a series of Pentagon leadership changes under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April. Hegseth has fired over a dozen senior military officers since taking office.
373 Articles
373 Articles
Hegseth blindsided Senate Republicans with sudden firing of Navy secretary
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give advance notice to senior Republican senators before announcing on Wednesday that he was firing Navy Secretary John Phelan and had already tapped his replacement, causing surprise and confusion on Capitol Hill. “I found out about it the way everybody else did,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told Jewish Insider of the Pentagon’s announcement on social media of Phelan’s dismissal. Reached for c…
The American Conservative
Stars and StripesJohn Phelan Out as Navy Secretary
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was fired on Wednesday. The move comes in the middle of a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the dismissal in a brief statement on X, offering no explanation. “Secretary of the Navy John C Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately,” Parnell wrote. Phelan reportedly had clashed with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has soug…
Navy Secretary John Phelan exits post as Pentagon names acting replacement
The Pentagon has pushed out Navy Secretary John Phelan, installing Undersecretary Hung Cao as acting leader effective immediately. The abrupt exit removes the Navy’s top civilian leader while the service remains central to U.S. military operations, and adds to a growing list of senior departures tied to leadership conflicts inside the Pentagon. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the move Wednesday, offering no explanation beyond a brief s…
New dismissal deepens US Navy turmoil
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired his Navy secretary, exacerbating turmoil within the Pentagon in the midst of the Iran war. John Phelan clashed with Hegseth and other senior officials over efforts to revive US shipbuilding. It follows the sacking of the Army chief of staff this month, and an increasingly public feud between Hegseth and the Army secretary. Though Phelan’s removal is not likely to have a direct impact on the Iran war or Was…
US Navy Secretary Phelan fired by Pentagon, source says
WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary John Phelan has been fired, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The post US Navy Secretary Phelan fired by Pentagon, source says appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
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