The U.S. Senate on Monday voted to confirm John Phelan as the next Secretary of the Navy.
Phelan, a Florida businessman and founder of a private investment firm and a major donor to former President Trump’s campaign, was confirmed by a 62-30 vote in the full Senate. Despite having no prior military experience, Phelan secured bipartisan support for the role, The Hill reported.
While Phelan did not face direct opposition during his February 27 nomination hearing, some lawmakers voiced concerns over his lack of military service or experience managing any civilian branch of the Pentagon.
Phelan, however, contended that his private-sector background uniquely positions him to address the Navy’s persistent challenges, including failed audits, workforce issues, cost overruns, and delays in shipbuilding.
He is the founder and chair of Rugger Management LLC, a Florida-based private investment firm, and previously served as managing partner of MSD Capital, a private equity firm.
During his confirmation hearing, Phelan stated that his outside business experience would aid the Navy in urgent need of reform.
“The U.S. Navy is at a crossroads, extended deployments, inadequate maintenance, huge cost overruns, delayed shipbuilding, failed audits, subpar housing, and sadly, record high suicide rates are systemic failures that have gone unaddressed for far too long, and frankly, this is unacceptable,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, USNI News reported.
Phelan told the panel the Trump administration’s top priority for the Department of the Navy was shipbuilding, which is years behind schedule and experiencing major cost overruns, especially for submarines and large capital warships like aircraft carriers.
“I don’t think I could say shipbuilding enough times,” he told the panel during his confirmation hearing when asked about President Donald Trump’s priorities, USNI noted.
He committed to reviewing the Navy’s current contracts and ensuring a clean audit for the Department of the Navy.
“I intend to sit down day one, and we are going to go through every contract that we have and 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 told the panel.
“I intend to do the same thing as it relates to an audit. I need to understand why the Navy cannot pass an audit,” he added.
He also told the committee that while he respects and appreciates “stability and tradition,” when it “suffocates adaptability, innovation, collaboration and trust, it erodes an organization’s ability to win.”
Phelan went on to argue that he understands “that some may question why a businessman who did not wear the uniform should lead the Navy,” and he respected that concern.
“The Navy and the Marine Corps already possess extraordinary operational expertise within their ranks. My role is to utilize that expertise and strengthen it to step outside the status quo
