U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan is departing from his role in the administration, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
Phelan, who this week attended the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space symposium in Washington, is leaving “effective immediately,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell announced.
Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, a former Virginia Senate candidate and special operations veteran, will assume the role of acting secretary of the Navy, Parnell added.
“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,” Parnell wrote. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”
The Pentagon provided no reason for the move, and requests for comment from Military Times were not returned as of publication.
Just yesterday, Phelan spoke with reporters at a media roundtable about the Navy’s prioritizing of ship building capacity as the service looks to double its vessel requests, according to the 2027 fiscal defense budget.
He also delivered a lengthy keynote address at the conference.
Phelan, who was confirmed as the Navy secretary by a 62-30 vote in March 2025, was just the seventh non-veteran to serve in the role in the past 70 years.
A founder of the investment firm Rugger Management LLC, Phelan was the first service secretary pick to be announced by President Donald Trump following his return to the Oval Office. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, however, was the first service secretary confirmed.
Cao, meanwhile, is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He deployed with special operations forces to Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia during a military career that spanned 25 years.
J.D. Simkins is Editor-in-Chief of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
