U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan leaving Trump administration: Pentagon

john phelan is out as navy secretary, effective immediately. the pentagon spokesman, sean parnell, didn't give a reason, but reuters later reported he was fired. navy under secretary hung cao will take over in an acting role. the departure comes as the navy is enforcing a blockade of iranian ports near the strait of hormuz, a key oil route in the u.s.-israeli war against iran. it follows defense secretary pete hegseth firing army chief of staff randy george less than three weeks ago. the wall street journal reported hegseth dismissed george in a "terse phone call" over a suspected leak. phelan had no military experience before trump appointed him in march 2025. he's a republican donor and art collector. in february, cnn reported his name was on a 2006 flight manifest for jeffrey epstein's private plane.