SECNAV nominee: Trump wants ‘shipbuilding, shipbuilding, shipbuilding’
Investor John Phelan wants to apply his business experience to the ailing defense industrial base, as Pentagon looks at cutting civilian shipyard personnel.
Meghann Myers | February 27, 2025 01:13 PM ET
Navy Personnel Congress
Navy secretary nominee John Phelan has no military experience, but he was speaking the language Thursday during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.
He called “people our most precious resource,” vowing to “restore operational readiness” as the Navy faces “an inflection point” with China’s growing naval power outpacing the U.S.’s ability to put more ships in the water.
“I understand that some may question why a businessman who did not wear the uniform should lead the Navy. I respect that concern,” Phelan, 60, a career investment banker and Trump-campaign donor, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “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 and take decisive action with a results-oriented approach.”
Despite being new to the Navy, Phelan came prepared to discuss the department’s perennial issues, vowing to bringing his business experience to bear on underresourced shipyards and shipbuilding cost overruns.
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/02/secnav-nominees-priorities-shipbuilding-shipbuilding-shipbuilding/403329/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
