Pete Hegseth Fires Navy Secretary John Phelan Amid US Blockade of Iran and Strait of Hormuz

The Pentagon announced that Navy Secretary John Phelan would leave the Trump administration “effective immediately,” a move that came as the United States was enforcing a naval blockade of Iran and maintaining a heavy presence around the Strait of Hormuz.

“The firing of US Navy Secretary John Phelan is the latest in a shakeup of the American military during the war on Iran, now in its eighth week”

Al Jazeera

NBC News reported that the Pentagon said Phelan would depart “effective immediately,” and that chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “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.”

Al Jazeera

NBC News added that Parnell said the new acting Navy secretary would be Undersecretary Hung Cao, while also noting that Parnell did not provide a reason for Phelan’s exit.

Reuters and El País both described the departure as a dismissal rather than a voluntary resignation, with El País saying Reuters was the first outlet to report it was a dismissal.

The firing also landed during a period when, as NBC News put it, the American military had seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran called a violation of the ceasefire.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Wednesday that the seizure was not a violation because they were “international vessels,” and insisted the blockade has been “massively effective.”

The Journal framed the context as the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf, saying the Pentagon announced Phelan would leave “immediately” and gave no reason.

Multiple outlets tied Phelan’s dismissal to internal disputes over how to restart the Navy’s shipbuilding program, including the Trump administration’s “Golden Fleet” initiative.

NBC News said the abrupt firing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came after mounting tensions between Phelan and Hegseth and the Pentagon’s No. 2, Stephen Feinberg, and that “the speed and approach Phelan was taking when it came to shipbuilding” appeared to be the main reason.

BBC

El País reported that Phelan’s tenure included disagreements about “how to restart the Navy’s troubled shipbuilding program,” and said he pushed the “Golden Fleet,” described as a major investment in new ships that included a new battleship of the “Trump class.”

The New York Post similarly said Phelan was fired after months of feuding with Pentagon bosses, particularly over his handling of President Trump’s “Golden Fleet” shipbuilding initiative.

Semafor described the same sequence as Hegseth firing Phelan, deepening turmoil within the Pentagon, and said it followed the sacking of the Army chief of staff earlier this month.

El País added that Feinberg had grown increasingly dissatisfied with Phelan’s management of the Navy’s new and important shipbuilding initiative, and that Feinberg was withdrawing responsibilities and authority from the project.

NBC News reported that Feinberg had wrested some decision making on shipbuilding away from Phelan, citing two officials familiar with the matter.

Lawmakers and administration-linked sources offered sharply different reactions and details about how the firing unfolded.

NBC News said firing the head of the Navy when the U.S. was enforcing a naval blockade caught members of Congress and Pentagon officials by surprise, and it reported differing accounts by Wednesday evening about whether Phelan knew he was being fired before the announcement.

NBC News reported that “Three people familiar with the matter said Phelan did not know he was being fired until he saw the post on X from the Pentagon’s top spokesman announcing his departure,” while a senior administration official said Phelan was notified ahead of time and that “Secretary Hegseth informed John Phelan of this news prior to it being made public.”

NBC News quoted Senator Jack Reed, D-R.I., saying, “Secretary Phelan’s abrupt dismissal is troubling,” and adding, “I am concerned it is yet another example of the instability and dysfunction that have come to define the Department of Defense under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth.”

Semafor echoed the reaction by quoting a lawmaker calling the dismissal “troubling,” and saying it “sends the wrong signal to our sailors and Marines, to our allies, and to our adversaries.”

El País reported that Phelan was a civilian and that the Pentagon said he “leaves the Administration with immediate effect,” without offering details about his exit.

The Journal also said US media reported Phelan was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and described the dismissal as adding to “a picture building of a dysfunctional defence department under Hegseth.”

The Pentagon said Undersecretary Hung Cao would assume the post on an interim basis, and multiple outlets described Cao’s background and the political framing around his appointment.

NBC News reported that Parnell said the new acting Navy secretary will be Undersecretary Hung Cao, and El País said the Navy’s second-highest ranking civilian official, Deputy Secretary Cao, would assume the post on an interim basis.

CNN

The New York Post stated that Cao would become acting secretary of the Navy, and it quoted the Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announcing, “Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately,” and “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Al Jazeera’s profile of Phelan also said Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao has become acting secretary, and it described Cao as a 25-year Navy veteran who previously ran as a Republican candidate for the US Senate and House of Representatives in 2022 and 2024 respectively, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

The Journal described the Navy secretary role as not overseeing deployed forces, but it emphasized that the Navy is central to the Strait of Hormuz blockade and that Phelan’s exit was unlikely to have direct impacts on the war while still signaling dysfunction.

Seoul Economic Daily added that Cao was named acting secretary after Phelan’s dismissal and said the move was seen as unusual because the Navy is a core force in the Strait of Hormuz blockade.

In addition, The Journal described the blockade context with Iran saying it could not reopen the vital maritime corridor as long as the United States continues to blockade its ports, and it said Iran has seized two ships while the US said it had turned back 31 vessels as part of its blockade.

The Phelan dismissal was presented by multiple outlets as part of a broader pattern of reshuffles during the war on Iran, with the Pentagon and White House pushing a rapid personnel turnover.

NBC News said Phelan’s departure comes after Hegseth forced out the Army’s top officer and two other Army generals earlier this month, naming Hegseth ousting Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, and citing Parnell later confirming George’s departure as “retiring from his position … effective immediately.”

Devdiscourse

NBC News also said Hegseth removed multiple senior officials he believes are associated with previous administrations, including firing Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who headed the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, after an initial assessment found that U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities were not as extensive as Trump had indicated.

El País similarly described the reshuffle as coming just weeks after Hegseth removed the Army’s top general, and it said these dismissals added to upheaval across all levels of command at the Pentagon, including last year’s removal of Air Force General C.Q. Brown and the ouster of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Air Force’s vice chief of staff.

Al Jazeera said the firing came at a critical moment, with US naval forces enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports and maintaining a heavy presence around the Strait of Hormuz, and it stated that the Strait of Hormuz is where “20 percent of the world’s oil and gas passes during peacetime.”

The Journal added that the deadlock continued after Iran said it could not reopen the vital maritime corridor as long as the United States continues to blockade its ports, and it quoted Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf saying, “A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade,” and “Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire.”

Across the coverage, the stakes were framed as both operational and political: NBC News said the firing caught members of Congress and Pentagon officials by surprise, while Semafor described the dismissal as “troubling” and as sending the wrong signal to “our sailors and Marines, to our allies, and to our adversaries.”