The acting navy secretary, Hung Cao, who steps into the role after the sudden departure of John Phelan, is a veteran naval officer and former refugee who earned a position with the Trump administration with campaigns for political office in Virginia marked by religious intolerance.
When Cao was first appointed, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, set him to modernizing base infrastructure and quality-of-life issues for sailors and marines, and to raise recruiting standards. Cao has also been a point person in the administration on permitting vaccine refusal and eliminating “DEI” policies in the military.
