Navy Secretary leaving role ‘effective immediately,’ Pentagon announces

Navy Secretary John Phelan is “departing the administration, effective immediately,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell announced on Wednesday.

Undersecretary Hung Cao will serve as the Navy’s acting secretary, Parnell wrote in a brief statement on social media.

Parnell did not provide any reasons why Phelan is departing his current role. No further information about Phelan’s departure was immediately available.

Phelan was confirmed as Navy secretary in March 2025.

“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 departure of the Navy’s top civilian leader comes nearly three weeks after the ouster of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George. George’s forced retirement was questioned by Democratic and Republican members of Congress.

As Task & Purpose previously reported, since the start of last year, a number of senior leaders from across the services have been fired or otherwise forced out, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles”  CQ” Brown Jr., former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, former Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife, Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, then serving as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, who was serving as U.S. representative to the NATO Military Committee. 

This is a developing story, and more information will be added as it becomes available.

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