Pentagon announces Navy Secretary John Phelan's immediate departure during ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
7:07 PM
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is leaving the Trump administration "effective immediately," the Pentagon announced Wednesday evening, according to six sources familiar with the matter.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the departure in a statement posted on social media. "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," Parnell said. "We wish him well in his future endeavors."
Three sources told CNN that Phelan was given the option to either resign or be fired, though it was not immediately clear which he chose. Reuters, citing an anonymous source, reported that Phelan had been fired by the Pentagon. The Navy directed queries about the details of Phelan's departure to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Undersecretary Hung Cao will become acting secretary of the navy, Parnell said.
The announcement came just a day after Phelan addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals at the Navy's annual conference in Washington, D.C., and spoke with reporters about his agenda. Pentagon officials did not offer a reason for his departure.
Phelan's exit marks the latest departure of a top defense official this year. His departure comes amid the U.S. Navy's enforcement of a blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil-shipping route that has become a major choke point in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
The blockade has drawn criticism from Iran. Trump administration officials have seized two ships in the strait, which Iran has called a violation of the precarious ceasefire between the two countries. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Wednesday that the seizure was not a violation because the vessels were "international vessels," and insisted the blockade has been "massively effective."
Phelan's departure follows a pattern of recent removals of senior military leaders. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Randy George to step down from his post just weeks earlier. General David Hodne and Major General William Green have also been removed from their roles recently. Since entering the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers.
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