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The shake-up comes as the U.S. military is enforcing a massive naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Middle East
John Phelan, the US Navy secretary, has been fired by Pete Hegseth, according to reports.
The Pentagon confirmed Mr Phelan has left his post after months of simmering tension with Mr Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, and senior military officials.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, announced the exit on X on Wednesday evening, saying Mr Phelan would be “departing the administration effective immediately”.
“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,” Mr Parnell said in a short statement.
“We wish him well in his future endeavours.”
Mr Parnell said Hugo Cao, the US Navy undersecretary, will serve as acting secretary.
Reuters, citing an anonymous source, reported that Mr Phelan had been fired.
A spokeswoman for Mr Phelan told The New York Times to refer questions on his exit to the Department of Defence.
His departure follows a prolonged period of friction with Mr Hegseth, The New York Times reported, including tensions tied to Mr Phelan’s close relationship with Donald Trump.
He had also clashed with Stephen Feinberg, Mr Hegseth’s deputy, who reportedly disapproved of his handling of shipbuilding initiatives.
Mr Phelan is known to speak with the US president regularly at his Mar-a-Lago club, which is close to his own Florida home. He even told legislators last year he exchanged late-night texts with Mr Trump about naval strategy.
Senior Pentagon leaders were said to be annoyed after Mr Phelan pitched a proposal for a modern warship directly to Mr Trump, bypassing Mr Hegseth.
Mr Phelan’s sudden departure comes amid broader upheaval in the US military leadership.
Earlier this month, Gen Randy George, the top US army officer, and two other senior officers were removed.
The leadership shake-up coincides with a fragile ceasefire with Iran, as the US deploys additional naval assets to the Middle East.
The US military is enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, which Mr Trump hopes will pressure Tehran to negotiate an end to the conflict on his terms. Since returning to office last year, Mr Trump has overseen a purge of top military staff, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February 2025.
Other senior officers dismissed include the heads of the US Navy and the US Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to Nato and three top military lawyers.
Mr Hegseth has defended the changes, saying the US president is entitled to appoint his preferred leadership team.
However, Democrats have raised concerns about the potential politicisation of the traditionally neutral US military.
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, described Mr Phelan’s dismissal as “troubling”.
“I am concerned it is yet another example of the instability and dysfunction that have come to define the Department of Defense under president Trump and secretary Hegseth,” Mr Reed said.
Last year, the defence secretary ordered at least a 20 per cent cut in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, as well as a 10 per cent cut in the overall number of general and flag officers.
The Navy is also under mounting pressure to expand its fleet, as China’s shipbuilding capacity now far outstrips that of the US.
Mr Trump’s $1.5 trillion defence budget request for fiscal year 2027 includes more than $65 billion for the procurement of 18 warships and 16 support vessels.
The funding forms part of what the Pentagon has dubbed the “Golden Fleet” initiative, which officials say is the largest shipbuilding request since 1962.
