U.S. navy secretary out of his job in newest Pentagon shakeup

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U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his job, the Pentagon abruptly introduced Wednesday, making him the primary head of a navy service to depart throughout President Donald Trump's second time period — and the newest high defence chief to be ousted.

No motive was given for the sudden departure of the navy's high civilian official. It comes because the U.S. has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and is concentrating on ships linked to Tehran world wide throughout a tenuous ceasefire within the warfare.

Phelan's ouster is the newest in a sequence of shakeups on the Pentagon, coming simply weeks after U.S. Secretary of Conflict Pete Hegseth fired the Military's high uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth has additionally fired a number of different high generals, admirals and defence leaders since taking workplace final yr.

The firings started in February 2025, when Hegseth eliminated navy leaders together with Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the navy's high uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Slife, the Air Pressure's second-in-command. Trump additionally fired Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees.

Underscoring how sudden the newest transfer was, Phelan addressed a big crowd of sailors and business professionals Tuesday on the navy's annual convention in Washington and spoke with reporters about his agenda. He additionally hosted the leaders of the U.S. Home Armed Companies Committee to debate the navy's price range request and efforts to construct extra ships, in keeping with a social media submit from his workplace.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell mentioned in a submit on X that Phelan was "departing the administration, efficient instantly."

One other Trump loyalist is taking on as appearing head of the navy: Undersecretary Hung Cao, a 25-year navy fight veteran who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and Home in Virginia.

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Phelan was main Trump donor Phelan had not served within the navy or held a civilian management position within the service earlier than Trump nominated him for secretary in late 2024. He was seen as an outsider introduced in to shake up the navy.

He was a serious donor to Trump's marketing campaign and based the personal funding agency Rugger Administration LLC. Based on his biography, Phelan's most important publicity to the navy got here from an advisory position with Spirit of America, a nonprofit that supported the defence of Ukraine and Taiwan.

The Related Press couldn't instantly attain Phelan's workplace for remark. The White Home didn't reply questions and as a substitute responded by sending a hyperlink to Parnell's assertion.

Phelan is leaving throughout a busy time for the navy. It has three plane carriers deployed in or heading to the Center East, whereas the Trump administration says all branches of the armed forces are poised to renew fight operations in opposition to Iran if the ceasefire collapses.

The navy has additionally maintained a heavy presence within the Caribbean, the place it has taken half in a marketing campaign of strikes in opposition to alleged drug boats. It additionally performed a serious position within the seize of Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro in January.

WATCH | How a navy blockade is completed: How do you do a naval blockade? We requested a retired admiral

A naval blockade is an act of warfare, however U.S. ships wouldn't fireplace on ships making an attempt to run it, says Mark Norman, a retired Royal Canadian Navy vice-admiral and fellow with the Canadian International Affairs Institute. The mission could be to intercept and interdict, get them organized to cease, probably utilizing warning photographs. Boarding and seizing ships would contain dropping troops by helicopter. 'That will get fairly dicey,' Norman mentioned. New appearing secretary ran unsuccessful bids for Congress Taking up as appearing secretary is Cao, who ran an unsuccessful Senate bid in Virginia in 2024 in an try and unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. He had Trump's endorsement within the crowded Republican major and gave a speech on the 2024 Republican Nationwide Conference.

Cao's biography contains fleeing Vietnam together with his household as a baby within the Nineteen Seventies. In a marketing campaign video for his Senate bid, he in contrast Vietnam's communist regime in the course of the Chilly Conflict to the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

Throughout his one debate with Kaine, Cao criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates for service members in addition to the navy's variety, fairness and inclusion efforts.

"If you're utilizing a drag queen to recruit for the navy, that is not the individuals we would like," Cao mentioned from the controversy stage. "What we'd like is alpha males and alpha females who're going to tear out their very own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. These are the younger women and men which can be going to win wars."

<img loading="lazy" alt="Man in dark suit speaks to a crowd from a podium with a banner reading "Trump will fix it."" srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/dd987027-43d0-444b-a4cc-e1aff21dedb5,1776905341758/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3808%2C2544%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/dd987027-43d0-444b-a4cc-e1aff21dedb5,1776905341758/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3808%2C2544%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/dd987027-43d0-444b-a4cc-e1aff21dedb5,1776905341758/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3808%2C2544%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/dd987027-43d0-444b-a4cc-e1aff21dedb5,1776905341758/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3808%2C2544%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.4968553459119496" data-cy="image-img"/> Undersecretary Hung Cao, who has run unsuccessfully for the U.S. Home and Senate, will take over Phelan's place. (Hannah McKay/Reuters) Trump and Hegseth have railed in opposition to DEI within the navy, banning these efforts and firing individuals accused of supporting such packages.

When he ran for Congress in Virginia in 2022, Cao expressed opposition to help for Ukraine throughout a debate in opposition to his Democratic opponent.

"My coronary heart goes out to the Ukrainian individuals.... However proper now we're borrowing $55 billion US from China to pay for the warfare in Ukraine. Not solely that, we're depleting our nationwide strategic reserves," Cao mentioned.

Cao graduated from the celebrated Thomas Jefferson Excessive College for Science and Expertise in Alexandria, Va., earlier than attending the U.S. Naval Academy.

WATCH | Battle within the Strait of Hormuz: U.S. seizes Iranian cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz

Iran has vowed to retaliate after the U.S. Navy forcibly seized an Iranian cargo ship within the Strait of Hormuz, ending a weekend the place each international locations accused the opposite of violating a ceasefire. He was commissioned as a particular operations officer and went on to serve with SEAL groups and particular forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia earlier than retiring with the rank of captain, in keeping with his Senate marketing campaign biography.

Cao additionally earned a grasp's diploma in physics and had fellowships on the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise and Harvard College.

Since turning into navy undersecretary, Cao has championed returning to obligation service members that refused a Biden-era mandate to take the COVID-19 vaccine.