US Navy secretary abruptly ‘departing’ amid Iran blockade

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that Phelan was “departing the administration” at once and that Undersecretary Hung Cao would become acting secretary of the Navy.

“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,” Parnell said in the statement.

No reason for Phelan’s departure was included in the announcement, which was reposted without further comment by Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Phelan, a businessman and investor with no prior military service, was sworn in as the 79th secretary of the Navy on March 25, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald Trump. He had overseen the Department of the Navy for just over a year.

The sudden personnel change comes at a sensitive moment for US naval operations in the Middle East, where Washington is maintaining a blockade on Iranian ports. The confrontation in and around the Strait of Hormuz remains active despite an extended ceasefire and stalled diplomacy.

The post is not directly responsible for authorizing combat operations, which under US law flow through the president, the defense secretary and the relevant combatant commander. But the Navy secretary oversees the Department of the Navy’s core affairs, meaning Phelan would likely have been involved in readiness, deployments and policy execution during the standoff with Iran.

Cao, who had been serving as undersecretary of the Navy, will now take over in an acting capacity. Phelan had previously praised him as a key part of the department’s effort to rebuild the “warrior ethos” and improve quality of service across the Navy and Marine Corps.

Phelan’s departure also comes just weeks after Hegseth forced out Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and two other senior Army generals in a separate Pentagon shake-up.