Turmoil at the Pentagon: Trump moves to promote Hung Cao to Navy secretary after another senior official departs

As the Pentagon faces an internal leadership crisis, with multiple departures from key positions, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will nominate Hung Cao as permanent secretary of the Navy, a position the official has been serving in on an acting basis since April, when his predecessor, John Phelan, abruptly left the post. The nomination must now be approved by the Senate.

"The Senate needs to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP, so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past 4 months," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Cao, a retired Navy captain and former special operations officer, would assume the position permanently just as the United States marks six months of war with Iran, in a conflict that has taken a toll on the U.S. and global economies and created a political headache for the administration. His nomination also comes amid increasingly questioned leadership by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who has had to deal with high-profile departures within the armed forces and the Pentagon itself.

Phelan left his post in part because of tensions he created with his superiors, including Hegseth, over an expensive new warship he pushed for during his tenure, as reported by Politico. That internal turmoil flared up again on Monday, with the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, following months of clashes with Hegseth over the dismissals of high-ranking officers and the priorities the Army should follow.

Cao, although a career military officer, is no stranger to the political arena. Before joining the Navy, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Virginia, his home state, as a Republican for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2022 and for the Senate two years later, losing both times.

In recent months, he has also been under scrutiny due to, according to whistleblowers, the conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which completed a record-breaking deployment in the Middle East as part of U.S. support for the war against Iran. In August, Cao met with family members of the crew, along with other officials, to hear firsthand their complaints about deteriorating conditions on board and the sailors' well-being.