[Salon] Pete Hegseth Fires Navy Secretary John Phelan

Pete Hegseth Fires Navy Secretary John Phelan

The shake-up comes as the U.S. military is enforcing a massive naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Middle East

By 

Lara Seligman

, 

Marcus Weisgerber

 and 

Alexander Ward

Updated April 22, 2026  The Wall Street Journal

John Phelan, nominee for US Secretary of the Navy, stands looking to the right during his confirmation hearing.John Phelan Al Drago/Bloomberg News

  • John Phelan has been fired as Navy secretary after months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to U.S. officials.
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John Phelan has been fired as Navy secretary after months of simmering tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to U.S. officials.

His departure was revealed in a social-media post by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. In the post, Parnell said Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg were “grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy.”

Hung Cao, a Navy veteran who is the current undersecretary, will become the acting Navy secretary, Parnell said. Cao lost a bid for a Virginia Senate seat to Democrat Tim Kaine in 2024. 

The shake-up comes as the U.S. military is enforcing a massive naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Middle East. There are more than 15 warships already in the region to support operations against Iran.

Phelan’s firing comes after a rocky tenure under Hegseth and Feinberg, including tension over Phelan’s close relationship with President Trump, according to three people familiar with the internal discussions. Phelan regularly chats with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club, just down the street from his own Florida home, and told lawmakers last year that he texts with the president about shipbuilding in the middle of the night.

The top Pentagon leaders were particularly annoyed last fall when Phelan pitched the idea for a modern battleship directly to Trump, bypassing Hegseth, the people said. 

Since then, Hegseth and Feinberg have worked to undermine Phelan by creating a new czar for submarine acquisition—a portfolio that typically sits within the Navy—who reports directly to Feinberg, the people said. 

It is just the latest example of friction between Hegseth and some of his senior Pentagon staff. The defense secretary has fired nearly two dozen senior military officers, including most recently Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, and has been feuding with the Army secretary since early last year.

The firing comes in the middle of the Navy’s biggest conference of the year, after Phelan spent the past few days pitching defense industry and the media on the Navy’s top priorities. It also comes the day after the Pentagon rolled out the details of its budget request to Congress, including $65.8 billion for shipbuilding.

Phelan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Appeared in the April 23, 2026, print edition as 'Pete Hegseth Fires Navy Secretary John Phelan'.

Lara Seligman is a national security reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Washington, where she covers the White House and the Pentagon. She previously spent four years at Politico as a defense reporter. Lara's reporting on the military and the defense industry has taken her around the world, with time spent covering geopolitics in real time in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Lara previously covered the Pentagon and national security for Foreign Policy. She also has written for publications including the Washington Post and Defense News.

Marcus Weisgerber is a national security reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Washington, where he covers the Pentagon and defense industry. For nearly two decades, Marcus’ reporting has focused on the intersection of business and national security. He spent nine years as the business editor of Defense One, where in 2018 he won a Jesse H. Neal Award for his coverage of the Pentagon and defense industry.

Marcus also has written for Defense News and Inside Defense. He served as vice president of the Pentagon Press Association from 2015 to 2022. Marcus graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in English and Journalism.

Alexander Ward is a national security reporter covering the White House and State Department for The Wall Street Journal in Washington. Alex’s reporting focuses in particular on the inner workings of the National Security Council and how top players in an administration formulate and execute foreign policy.

Alex was previously the White House and national secur

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