President Donald Trump announced he intends to nominate acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to serve in the role permanently, a move that comes amid a series of high-profile military leadership departures and a stalling war effort against Iran.
Cao has served in an acting capacity as the civilian head of the Navy since April, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired his predecessor, John Phelan, after months of tension with other Pentagon leaders. The nomination also comes a day after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation to the president.
“I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR, Hung Cao, to become the next Secretary of the Navy,” Trump said in a post on social media . “The Senate needs to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP, so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past 4 months”.
Who Is Hung Cao?
Cao, who immigrated to the United States with his family from Vietnam as a refugee in 1975, spent more than 25 years in the Navy as a special operations officer and bomb disposal expert, serving with SEAL teams in Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired as a captain in 2021.
He was confirmed as Navy undersecretary in a 52-45 Senate vote last October before stepping in as acting Navy secretary after Phelan was ousted in April.
Cao also ran twice for elected office in Virginia—unsuccessfully challenging for a House seat in 2022 and for Senate in 2024 against Sen. Tim Kaine.
The Challenges Ahead
Cao’s nomination comes as the Navy faces mounting operational demands amid the ongoing Iran war. Reports have surfaced of dire conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has endured a marathon deployment of more than nine months at sea, with sailors reportedly strained by prolonged deployments and shortages of food and hygiene supplies.
Several Democratic senators, including Richard Blumenthal and Ruben Gallego, have sought answers from the Pentagon over crew conditions.
As acting Navy secretary, Cao has presided over efforts to restructure the Navy’s acquisition system and lobbied Congress to support an expanded Navy budget containing initial funding for the proposed Trump-class battleship and other initiatives under the administration’s “Golden Fleet” concept.
The Bottom Line
President Trump has nominated acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to serve as Navy secretary on a permanent basis. Cao, a retired Navy captain and former special operations officer, has led the service since April. His nomination comes as the Pentagon faces leadership shake-ups and the Navy contends with the strains of the Iran war. Cao previously ran for Congress in Virginia and was confirmed as Navy undersecretary last year.
