Senate Confirms Another Top Trump Nominee
The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed John Phelan as the new Secretary of the Navy.
Phelan, a Florida-based entrepreneur and founder of a private investment company, as well as a major financial supporter of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, was confirmed with a 62-30 Senate vote. Although he lacks military experience, he received backing from both sides of the aisle.
While his confirmation hearing proceeded without significant pushback, several lawmakers expressed concerns about Phelan’s absence of military service or prior leadership within any civilian sector of the Department of Defense.
Despite this, Phelan argued that his extensive private-sector experience provides him with a distinct advantage in addressing longstanding issues within the Navy, such as audit failures, staffing problems, escalating costs, and delays in ship production.
He founded and currently chairs Rugger Management LLC, a Florida investment firm. He also previously held the position of managing partner at MSD Capital, a private equity firm.
In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Phelan emphasized how his business background would support necessary reforms.
“The U.S. Navy is at a crossroads,” he stated, highlighting persistent problems such as “extended deployments, inadequate maintenance, huge cost overruns, delayed shipbuilding, failed audits, subpar housing, and sadly, record high suicide rates,” which he labeled as “systemic failures” that have “gone unaddressed for far too long.” He concluded: “frankly, this is unacceptable,” as reported by USNI News.
He noted that under the Trump administration, shipbuilding remained the top priority for the Navy—though the process continues to suffer from significant budget overruns and delays, particularly with large-scale vessels like submarines and aircraft carriers.
“I don’t think I could say shipbuilding enough times,” Phelan remarked when questioned on Trump-era priorities during the hearing, according to USNI.
Phelan pledged to review existing Navy contracts and push for a clean financial audit of the department.
“I intend to sit down day one, and we are going to go through every contract that we have,” he said. “Understand what exactly they say and what flexibility they do or do not give us, what contract needs to change or not change, and why.”
He also expressed his intent to closely examine the Navy’s audit process. “I need to understand why the Navy cannot pass an audit,” he added.
While Phelan conveyed respect for “stability and tradition,” he cautioned that when tradition “suffocates adaptability, innovation, collaboration and trust, it erodes an organization’s ability to win.”
Acknowledging skepticism over his civilian background, Phelan said, “I understand that some may question why a businessman who did not wear the uniform should lead the Navy,” and affirmed that he respected those doubts.
“The Navy and the Marine Corps already possess extraordinary operational expertise within their ranks,” he said. “My role is to utilize that expertise and strengthen it to step outside the status quo and take decisive action with a results-oriented approach,” The Hill reported.
He paid particular attention to the troubled Constellation-class frigate project during the hearing, promising a swift review.
“This program is a mess from what it looks like,” Phelan told senators. “If confirmed, I plan to dig into this very quickly and understand the issues. And we’ll come back to this committee very fast with the knowledge that we have as soon as we get to the root cause of the problem.”
Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who is retiring and represents a state bordering the shipyard producing the frigates, asked Phelan whether he viewed the project as a “long-term cornerstone of the fleet.”
“As I’ve said, I will look at this and work with the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense to understand all of the programs we have and how they all fit and how this important program fits in,” Phelan replied. “And so once I’ve had an opportunity to do that, I look forward to coming back to you to discuss it.”
The Navy’s contract with Fincantieri, which oversees the frigate construction at the Marinette, Wisconsin shipyard, was signed in 2020, near the close of Trump’s presidency. The vessel is intended to play a key role in anti-submarine warfare.
However, USNI News reported that hiring challenges and worker retention at the Menominee River yard—hampered by harsh northern Wisconsin winters—as well as complications in modifying the original ship design, have caused the program’s lead vessel to fall behind schedule by up to three years as of a spring 2024 Navy assessment.