Navy Secretary John Phelan, the top civilian official in the US Navy has quit, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday and Hung Cao will act as interim secretary.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Phelan was “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,” he added.
Why did John Phelan quit the Navy Secretary job?
Phelan quit the job suddenly, just one day after he addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals at the annual conference the Navy has in Washington. He had also spoken to reporters about his agenda at the time.
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Notably, a cause of Phelan’s departure was not shared by the US government. Reuters cited a source and reported that Phelan was fired from his job. This comes weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George, the Army’s top officer, along with two generals.
Meanwhile, here is all you need to know about the interim secretary Hung Cao.
Who is Hung Cao? 5 things on interim Navy Secretary
- Hung Cao had come into the US as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. He spent some time in West Africa and then moved to Virginia.
- He was part of the first batch to graduate from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria and was commissioned as a Special Operations Officer (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Deep Sea Diving) from the United States Naval Academy.
- Cao served with Special Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Among his non-combat assignments have been balancing he Navy’s $140 billion budget at the Pentagon, and working with Homeland Security and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.
- Cao has a Master’s degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School and fellowships at MIT and Harvard.
- He is married to April and the two have five kids together. The Cao family now live in Purcellville, Virginia.
Who is John Phelan?
While Cao has had prior military experience, Phelan had none. He also did not have any civilian leadership role in the service before President Donald Trump nominated him for the post in late 2024.
Phelan, notably, was a major donor to Trump’s campaign and founded private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. His biography indicates that Phelan’s primary exposure to military came from an advisory position on the Spirit of America – a non-profit supporting the defense of Ukraine and Taiwan.
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