The Pentagon's top uniformed civilian official is gone. John Phelan, the secretary of the navy, left his post effective immediately on Wednesday, the Defense Department announced, leaving the service without its principal civilian leader at a moment of intense maritime tension with Iran.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Phelan was "departing the administration, effective immediately." Hung Cao, the navy's undersecretary, will serve as acting secretary. Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source, that Phelan had been fired.
The ouster marks another casualty in what has become a steady stream of departures under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Since taking office last year, Hegseth has terminated multiple top generals, admirals, and civilian defense leaders, often without public explanation. Earlier this month alone, he fired Gen Randy George, the army's top officer.
The timing is striking. Phelan was addressing a packed audience of sailors and industry officials at the Navy League's annual conference in Washington just a day before his exit, speaking publicly about his agenda. The abrupt departure offered no stated rationale, continuing the pattern of silent removals that has defined the administration's approach to defense leadership.
Phelan's firing comes as the U.S. Navy maintains a blockade of Iranian ports and targets vessels with Tehran connections globally, part of a wider confrontation that has crippled negotiations and destabilized one of the world's most critical shipping lanes. Iranian forces captured two vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, escalating tit-for-tat restrictions that threaten roughly 20 percent of the world's oil and liquefied gas flows during normal periods.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament and chief negotiator, declared any reopening of the strait "impossible" while the U.S. and Israel commit what he called "flagrant" ceasefire violations. He characterized the American naval blockade as "the hostage-taking of the world's economy."
The naval standoff feeds wider doubts about whether peace talks can resume. Negotiations are stalled, and the blockade has become a flashpoint in rhetoric from Tehran.
Beyond the Pentagon shuffle, Trump's political standing is softening. Three separate polls released this week show his approval rating slipping into the mid-30s: a Reuters-Ipsos survey found 36 percent approval, while Strength in Numbers-Verasight and AP-NORC tracked 35 and 33 percent respectively. All three surveys cluster near his lowest marks on record, measuring public confidence in his handling of the economy, immigration, and the Iran conflict. With midterm elections six months away, the numbers present a warning for Republican candidates tied to the administration.
In other developments, House Judiciary Committee Democrats demanded that FBI Director Kash Patel complete a formal alcohol abuse screening and submit results to Congress. The committee called for Patel to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, a WHO diagnostic tool, along with a sworn statement validating his answers. Democrats also requested all security clearance questionnaires Patel has filed since his appointment.
The White House is nearing completion of a financing package worth as much as $500 million to stabilize struggling budget carrier Spirit Airlines. The loan structure comes as Spirit and other carriers face mounting costs tied to the Iran conflict, particularly spiking fuel prices.
A federal judge in Massachusetts struck down several Trump administration policies restricting clean energy development, including a rule forcing the Interior Secretary to personally approve all solar and wind projects on federal land and waters.
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr faced sharp questioning from senators Wednesday during a Capitol Hill hearing centered on the administration's response to a measles outbreak and the spread of vaccine misinformation.
The Pentagon also revealed plans to boost funding for autonomous drone warfare by more than one hundredfold, signaling a dramatic shift toward AI-powered combat operations.
Author James Rodriguez: "Firing a navy secretary in the middle of a hot standoff in the Hormuz Strait without explanation is not a confidence builder, and the political damage from weak approval ratings across multiple polls suggests this White House knows it's losing ground."
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