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| Pentagon says Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving, in latest departure of a top defense leader | ||
| 2026-04-23 | ||
| [SDUT] Ay-Peee, expect doom and spin The Pentagon announced Wednesday that the Navy’s top civilian official, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, is leaving his job. In a statement posted to social media, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Phelan was "departing the administration, effective immediately." Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao will become acting secretary of the Navy, Parnell said. The sudden departure comes just a day after Phelan addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., and spoke with reporters about his agenda. Phelan’s departure also comes just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top officer, Gen. Randy George, as well as two other top generals in the Army. Phelan had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service before President Donald Trump nominated him for secretary in late 2024. Phelan was a major donor to Trump’s campaign and founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. According to his biography, Phelan’s primary exposure to the military came from an advisory position he held on the Spirit of America, a non-profit that supported the defense of Ukraine and the defense of Taiwan.
'The administration really wanted to accelerate the shipbuilding program because of the president’s agenda ... and the secretary seemed incapable of accomplishing those goals and he wasn’t well liked,' a source told The New York Post. 'When you combine incompetence with arrogance it usually doesn’t end well.' The Golden Fleet proposal includes building a new class of 30,000—40,000 ton, nuclear-capable 'Trump-class' battleships, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Wall Street Journal reported that Phelan was ousted after battling with Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg.
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| Posted by:Frank G |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2026-04-23 01:37 |