US Navy Secretary John C Phelan Exits Trump Administration Amid Iran War

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The US Department of War on Wednesday (local time) announced that Secretary of the Navy John C Phelan is stepping down with immediate effect, with Hung Cao set to take over as Acting Secretary of the Navy.

The development was confirmed by Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, who thanked Phelan for his service and said the administration wishes him well in his future endeavours.

In a post on X, Parnell wrote, "Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately. On behalf of the Secretary of War and Deputy Secretary of War, we are grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy."

"We wish him well in his future endeavors. Undersecretary Hung Cao will become Acting Secretary of the Navy," the post read.

John Phelan's sudden exit comes at a time when the Navy is playing a central role in enforcing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz-one of its largest missions in decades.

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He is just the latest senior figure to leave the Pentagon since the Iran war began.

Earlier this month, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff General Randy George to step down.

Trump had nominated Phelan, a businessman and campaign donor, ahead of his second inauguration. Phelan was also involved in steering a significant modernisation push across U.S. shipbuilders, as the administration aims to secure tens of billions of dollars in fresh funding to expand the Navy, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Phelan had been a major Trump donor

Phelan had no prior military service or civilian leadership experience within the Navy before Trump nominated him as secretary in late 2024, and he was widely viewed as an outsider brought in to disrupt the status quo, as reported by AP.

A significant donor to Trump's campaign, Phelan also founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. According to his biography, his main connection to the military came through an advisory role with Spirit of America, a nonprofit that supports defence efforts in Ukraine and Taiwan.

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Phelan is leaving during a busy time for the Navy. It has three aircraft carriers deployed in or heading to the Middle East, while the Trump administration says all the armed forces are poised to resume combat operations against Iran should the ceasefire expire.

The Navy also has maintained a heavy presence in the Caribbean, where it has been part of a campaign of strikes against alleged drug boats. It also played a major role in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.

New acting Navy secretary ran unsuccessful bids for Congress

Taking over as acting secretary is Cao, who ran a failed U.S. Senate bid in Virginia to try to unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in 2024. He had Trump's endorsement in the crowded Republican primary and gave a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention, as reported by AP.

His background includes leaving Vietnam with his family as a child in the 1970s. In a campaign video, he drew comparisons between Vietnam's communist government during the Cold War and the administration of President Joe Biden.

In his sole debate with Kaine, Cao criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates for military personnel, as well as the military's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

"When you're using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that's not the people we want," Cao said from the debate stage. "What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are the young men and women that are going to win wars."

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have strongly criticized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the military, moving to ban such programs and dismiss individuals seen as supporting them.

During his 2022 congressional run in Virginia, Cao voiced opposition to providing aid to Ukraine in a debate against his Democratic opponent.

"My heart goes out to the Ukrainian people.... But right now we're borrowing $55 billion from China to pay for the war in Ukraine. Not only that, we're depleting our national strategic reserves," Cao said.

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Cao graduated from the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, before attending the U.S. Naval Academy.

He was commissioned as a special operations officer and later served with SEAL teams and special forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, retiring with the rank of captain, according to his Senate campaign biography.

Cao also earned a master's degree in physics and completed fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Since becoming Navy undersecretary, he has supported reinstating service members who declined to comply with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate introduced during the Biden administration.

(With inputs from agencies)

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