US Navy Secretary John Phelan speaks about the US Navy’s new Golden Fleet initiative, unveiling a new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 22, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration “effective immediately,” a spokesman for the Department of Defense said Wednesday.
“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,” the spokesman, Sean Parnell, said on X. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Hung Cao, the Under Secretary of the Navy, will lead the military branch in an acting capacity, Parnell said.
Parnell did not provide an explanation for Phelan’s sudden departure, which comes as the U.S. Navy enforces a high-stakes blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz.
The key oil-shipping route has become a major choke point in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
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