Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his role effective immediately, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Wednesday.
The Navy’s new acting civilian leader will be Undersecretary of the Navy Hung Cao, according to Parnell.
Phelan is the latest high-profile official to depart the federal government in recent months. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down earlier this month, and the Army officers who led the Transportation and Training Command and the Chaplain Corps were removed from their roles. The head of the U.S. military’s Southern Command, Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, also retired at the end of last year.
Elsewhere in the administration, three Cabinet secretaries have left their posts since last month: Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer have left.
The Department of the Navy — which oversees naval forces and the Marine Corps — is losing its top civilian official while the Navy plays a key role in the war with Iran.
A temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has been in place for about two weeks, but the U.S. has continued enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports at President Trump’s direction. The president and other administration officials have also suggested that the Navy could offer escorts to oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz at some point.
This is a breaking story; it will be updated.