US Navy Secretary John Phelan has been dismissed, a US official and a person familiar with the matter told Reuters this evening. This is another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon, just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top general.
The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately.” However, he did not provide a reason or clarify whether it was his decision.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was removed in part for his slowness in implementing reforms to speed up shipbuilding and his disagreements with senior Pentagon officials.
One source cited poor relations with Hegseth, his deputy, Steve Feinberg, and the Navy’s civilian second-in-command, Hung Cao, who the Pentagon says will now take over as acting Navy secretary. The source also mentioned an ethics investigation into Phelan’s office.
Phelan, a billionaire with close ties to President Donald Trump, is the first administration-appointed service secretary to be ousted since Trump returned to power last year.
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His departure comes against a broader backdrop of turmoil at all levels of Pentagon leadership under Hegseth, including the firing last year of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force.
On April 2, Hegseth fired Army Chief of Staff Randy George without explanation. Two U.S. officials said the decision was related to tensions between Hegseth and Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.
Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Phelan’s firing “troubling.” “I am concerned that this is another example of the instability and dysfunction that has come to define the Department of Defense under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth,” he said.
“I worry that this is another example of the instability and dysfunction that has come to define the Department of Defense under President Trump and Hegseth.”
The recent withdrawal comes amid a tense ceasefire with Iran, as the United States deploys more naval assets to the Middle East.
The US military relies on its naval resources to carry out a blockade of Iran, with which President Donald Trump hopes to pressure Tehran to negotiate an end to the conflict on its own terms.
The Navy is under intense pressure to expand its fleet. China’s shipbuilding industry now far surpasses that of the United States, which was once a world power.
Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget request for fiscal year 2027 includes more than $65 billion for the acquisition of 18 warships and 16 support vessels manufactured by General Dynamics (GD.N) and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N).
This is part of what the Pentagon calls the “Golden Fleet” initiative, which officials say represents the largest shipbuilding request since 1962.
