By Haley Britzky, Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand, NCS
(NCS) — Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was ousted from his place, six sources aware of the matter instructed NCS, as Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell introduced Wednesday night that Phelan could be departing “effective immediately.”
Three of the sources stated that Phelan was given the choice to both resign or be fired. It was not instantly clear which he selected.
The Navy directed queries in regards to the particulars of Phelan’s departure to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The White House directed NCS to a press release from Parnell.
“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 stated in an web publish. “We wish him well in his future endeavors. Undersecretary Hung Cao will become Acting Secretary of the Navy.”
The announcement comes whereas the U.S. Navy is finishing up a blockade of Iranian ports throughout a ceasefire within the Iran conflict. Thus far, U.S. forces have redirected 29 vessels to return to port and have additionally boarded two ships.
Multiple sources instructed NCS there was stress for months between Phelan and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who believed he was shifting too slowly on implementing shipbuilding reforms and was additionally irked by Phelan’s direct communication with Trump, which Hegseth considered as an try to bypass him. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg additionally wished to take management of main tasks for shipbuilding and navy acquisitions, a job that will sometimes be inside Phelan’s purview.
Phelan is a businessman with no prior army service; he and his spouse beforehand fundraised thousands and thousands of {dollars} for President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign earlier than he was confirmed as Navy secretary in 2025.
“John will be a tremendous force for our Naval servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision,” Trump stated on the time. “He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else.”
It’s unclear what led to Phelan’s departure, which is the primary among the many army service secretaries nominated beneath Trump. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has, nevertheless, eliminated quite a few senior army officers throughout the providers since taking the helm on the Pentagon.
The announcement of his departure comes the identical week as a significant, annual maritime convention — the Navy League’s annual Sea Air Space convention — was being held simply exterior of Washington, D.C. Phelan and different senior Navy management attended and spoke on the convention.
NCS beforehand reported that Phelan’s identify appeared on a flight manifest displaying that he flew in 2006 on the aircraft of convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. The manifest confirmed Phelan flew with Epstein; a number of different financiers; and one passenger who gave the impression to be French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, an in depth affiliate of Epstein who was going through fees of rape of a minor and sexual assault when he was discovered useless in his jail cell in 2022.
An in depth pal of Phelan’s stated he had been invited to fly on the aircraft by Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne, who died in 2021. Phelan didn’t know they’d be flying on Epstein’s aircraft till they arrived, the shut pal stated, and Phelan didn’t communicate or work together with Epstein once more.
NCS’s Kristen Holmes and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this story.
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