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 after just over a year in office.
- 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.
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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…
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.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Navy Secretary John Phelan, the last of a series of senior officials forced to leave the Pentagon from the beginning...
John Phelan, the chief civilian officer of the U.S. Navy, was dismissed without explanation from the Pentagon.
Since Donald Trump's return to the White House, several senior officials have had the same fate as John Phelan dismissed from office without any explanation.
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