Top Civilian Navy Official Resigns

The highest civilian official in the American Navy, John Phelan, is leaving his position “effective immediately”, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday, April 22, without providing an explanation for his sudden departure, at a time when the United States is engaged in a conflict with Iran.

This top official “is leaving the administration with immediate effect,” wrote Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell in a statement on X, specifying that his deputy Hung Cao will now temporarily fill the position. This new departure adds to the list of senior American military officials who have been removed, usually without explanation, since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

Earlier this month, in the midst of the conflict with Iran, the chief of staff of the American army, General Randy George, was pushed out overnight, with no explanation provided by the Pentagon.

Wave of Generals Departures

Two other generals, David Hodne, in charge of army transformation and training, and William Green Jr, head of the army chaplain corps, met the same fate.

Since February 2025, shortly after Donald Trump returned to power, the inter-service chief of staff appointed by former Democratic president Joe Biden, General Charles “CQ” Brown, was removed without justification and replaced by Dan Caine. Other senior officials, at the helm of the Navy and Coast Guard, the NSA intelligence agency, or even the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force, among others, were also dismissed from their positions.

A few months later, in mid-August, the chief of staff of the Air Force, General David Allvin, announced his abrupt departure, after two years in office instead of four. This was followed in December by the senior official in charge of the US Southern and Central Command, Admiral Alvin Holsey, after only a year in office.