“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,” Parnell wrote. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”
The Navy didn’t present a cause for Phelan’s departure.
It comes simply weeks after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requested Army Chief of Staff Randy George to step down from his submit.
Two different military officers, Gen David Hodne and Maj Gen William Green, have additionally been faraway from their roles just lately.
Since coming into the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired greater than a dozen senior navy officers, together with the chief of naval operations and the Air Force’s vice-chief of workers.
Phelan, a civilian who had not beforehand served within the navy, was sworn in as Secretary of the Navy in March 2025 after being nominated by President Donald Trump in 2024.
His alternative, Cao, turned undersecretary in October 2025 and is a 25-year Navy veteran.
Cao ran an unsuccessful marketing campaign for the US Senate in Virginia in 2024, endorsed by Trump, in opposition to incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.
The Navy’s change in management comes as Trump mentioned the US blockade of Iranian ports would proceed amid a ceasefire within the battle. Clashes have continued within the Strait of Hormuz, a significant world delivery route that provides a lot of the globe’s oil, with Iran saying that it had “seized” two ships within the strait.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned the president is “satisfied” with the continuing US naval blockade on Iranian ports, and “understands Iran is in a very weak position”.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, mentioned on Wednesday that it’s “not possible” for the Strait of Hormuz to be re-opened attributable to “the blatant violations of the ceasefire” by the US and Israel.
