Navy Secretary’s dismissal for differences with Hegseth sparks new unrest at the Pentagon
John Phelan’s departure comes weeks after the defense secretary removed the army chief of staff from his post
U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan has been dismissed in a new wartime shake‑up at the Pentagon, coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed the Army’s highest‑ranking general from his post.
In a statement, the Pentagon said that Phelan “is departing the administration effective immediately,” without offering details about his departure. Reuters was the first outlet to report that it was a firing, not a voluntary resignation. According to The New York Times, Phelan — a civilian — is leaving the Pentagon and President Donald Trump’s administration after months of internal clashes with senior Pentagon leaders and disagreements over how to revive the Navy’s troubled shipbuilding program.
During his tenure, Phelan had championed what became known as the Golden Fleet, a major investment in new vessels that included a new “Trump‑class” battleship. His time in office, however, was marred by disputes with senior officials across the Pentagon — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Stephen Feinberg — according to Pentagon and congressional officials. Tensions had been rising for months between the outgoing secretary and his two superiors over management style, personnel matters, and other issues.
According to a congressional official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Feinberg had grown increasingly dissatisfied with Phelan’s handling of the Navy’s new and significant shipbuilding initiative, gradually stripping him of responsibilities and authority over the project. Phelan, appointed by the White House, also had a strained relationship with his deputy, Undersecretary Hung Cao, who was more closely aligned with Hegseth, these sources said.
“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,” said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, in a statement. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.” The Navy’s second-highest-ranking civilian official, Undersecretary Cao, will assume the position on an interim basis, said Phelan.
On April 2, Hegseth dismissed U.S. Army Chief of Staff Randy George without giving a reason. Two senior officials pointed to tensions between Hegseth and Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll as the reason for the firing.
These dismissals add to the recent upheaval across all levels of Pentagon leadership, including last year’s removal of the previous Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — Air Force General C.Q. Brown — as well as the ouster of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
This latest departure comes amid a tense ceasefire with Iran, as the United States deploys more naval assets to the Middle East and the consequences of the war — declared unilaterally by the U.S. and Israel — ripple through the economy, with gasoline prices now above $4 a gallon. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting daily due to the erratic course of the war and economic setbacks (in March, inflation was at its highest level in two years).
The U.S. military is relying on naval assets to enforce a blockade on Iran, which Trump hopes will pressure Tehran into negotiating an end to the conflict — and, above all, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping — on his terms.
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