Navy Secretary Phelan Exits Administration Immediately, Is Replaced With Hung Cao

Scott McClallen | April 22, 2026 7:23 PM

Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan has departed the Trump administration.

Sean Parnell, the assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Relations, posted to social media without giving a reason for the departure.

Undersecretary Hung Cao will become Acting Secretary of the Navy, Parnell said.

STATEMENT:

Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately.

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.

We wish…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) April 22, 2026

The Wall Street Journal reported that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth fired Phelan after months of tension.

WSJ on the firing of the Secretary of the Navy (their headline is "Pete Hegseth Fires Navy Secretary John Phelan")https://t.co/dfIMXZgD7f pic.twitter.com/N6kAGFWJnQ
— Steve Lookner (@lookner) April 22, 2026

Phelan had posted to social media on Tuesday.

The future fight isn’t manned or unmanned—it’s both, integrated and acting interchangeably.

High-end platforms that command and endure anchor the force. But wars are won by speed, iterating in real time, and scaling combat power without delay.

That’s why we are building a true… pic.twitter.com/okNIB5oVC5
— Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan (@SECNAV) April 22, 2026