Updated on: April 23, 2026 / 11:14 PM EDT / CBS News
Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his post effective immediately, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Wednesday. A White House official told CBS News that President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth agreed that the Navy needed new civilian leadership, and Hegseth informed Phelan of the decision before it was announced.
Mr. Trump called Phelan a “wonderful guy” but said he “had trouble getting along with others,” adding, “He’s a hard charger, and he had some conflicts with some other people,” including over the administration’s shipbuilding efforts. “Got to get along, especially in the military,” the president said.
Undersecretary of the Navy Hung Cao will serve as the acting civilian leader, Parnell said. Cao, a Navy veteran who was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Virginia in 2024 and lost to Sen. Tim Kaine, thanked Mr. Trump and Hegseth in a statement, saying his immediate priorities are taking care of Sailors and Marines, advancing shipbuilding initiatives and ensuring homeland defense.
Phelan’s departure is the latest high-profile exit in recent months. Earlier this month Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down; senior Army officers who led the Transportation and Training Command and the Chaplain Corps were also removed. Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern Command, retired at the end of last year. In the past month three Cabinet secretaries left their posts: Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer departed.
The Department of the Navy — which oversees naval forces and the Marine Corps — is losing its top civilian official while the Navy plays a central role in the conflict with Iran. A temporary ceasefire has been in place for roughly two weeks, but the U.S. continues to enforce a naval blockade of Iranian ports at the president’s direction. Administration officials have also suggested the Navy could at some point escort oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
A former financier who helped run Michael Dell’s family investment office, Phelan was confirmed by the Senate 62-30 in March 2025, with 11 Democrats joining Republicans to support the nomination. During his tenure the Navy participated in strikes on alleged drug boats near Latin America, seizures of oil tankers linked to Venezuela, and operations that resulted in the transport of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to a U.S. aircraft carrier after his capture earlier this year.
Phelan also took part in Mr. Trump’s push to expand the Navy by building as many as 25 new battleships, appearing with Hegseth and the president at Mar-a-Lago to introduce the so-called “Trump-class” battleships. His most recent public appearance was Tuesday at the Sea-Air-Space Conference in the Washington, D.C., area.
Kristin Brown contributed to this report.