John Phelan Resigns as U.S. Navy Secretary...Sudden Replacement Amid Iranian Maritime Blockade

U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has stepped down from his position. While the U.S. Department of Defense has not disclosed the exact reason for his resignation, foreign media outlets have analyzed that conflict with Secretary Pete Hegseth served as the backdrop. Secretary Hegseth has recently clashed with the military leadership, including dismissing several senior officers.

AP News Yonhap News

On April 22 (local time), Shawn Parnell, Chief Pentagon Spokesperson, announced via social media platform X (formerly Twitter), "Secretary Phelan is leaving the administration. This is effective immediately." However, he did not specify the reason for the departure, only adding that Hung Cao, Under Secretary of the Navy, would serve as acting secretary.

This personnel change took place as the U.S. military was imposing a large-scale maritime blockade against Iranian ports in the Middle East. More than 15 warships have already been deployed to the region to support operations against Iran.

Foreign media described Secretary Phelan's resignation as sudden. This is because it came just one day after Secretary Phelan delivered a speech to numerous Navy officers and industry experts and spoke to reporters about future initiatives at the Navy's annual conference in Washington, D.C.

However, there are also speculations that conflict with Secretary Hegseth was behind this resignation. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing sources, reported that tension surrounding Secretary Phelan's close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump was one of the main factors.

According to sources, senior Department of Defense officials were displeased when Phelan proposed a plan for modern warships directly to Trump last year without going through Hegseth. Subsequently, Secretary Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg created a new position overseeing submarine procurement—traditionally handled by the Navy—so that Feinberg would report directly to them, effectively weakening Phelan's authority.

The Financial Times (FT) reported that Phelan's ouster came as Secretary Hegseth was removing Pentagon officials seen as being out of step with the Trump administration. The outlet also cited sources as saying that Secretary Phelan had clashed with senior civilian officials in the Department of Defense, including Secretary Hegseth, over issues such as the shipbuilding program and the nomination and promotion of military generals.

The WSJ noted that this resignation is merely the latest example of tension between Secretary Hegseth and some senior aides within the Department of Defense. Secretary Hegseth has recently dismissed about 20 senior military officers, including Army Chief of Staff Randy George, and has been at odds with the Secretary of the Army since early last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.