Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has recently dismissed Jon Harrison from his position as the Navy Chief of Staff. This decision follows the confirmation of Hung Cao as the new Navy Under Secretary. A Pentagon spokesman confirmed Harrison’s ousting on Saturday, stating, “We are grateful for his service to the Department.”
At the time of this publication, Harrison had not yet commented on his dismissal. He was a political appointee of former President Donald Trump, working alongside Navy Secretary John Phelan to streamline the Navy’s policy and budgeting offices after both took office with many of the Navy’s major programs significantly behind schedule.
Politico was the first to report on this leadership change. An official, who requested anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak on the matter, revealed that Harrison had tried to limit the influence of Under Secretary Cao and had reassigned aides meant to assist him in his new role.
Hung Cao, a Republican and notable Trump supporter, has previously run for office in Virginia, losing to Democratic candidates in both House and Senate races. Hegseth has also made several other high-profile dismissals this year, including senior advisor Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, the chief of staff for the deputy secretary of defense.
Among his actions, Hegseth has relieved high-ranking uniformed leaders from their posts, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Linda Fagin.
Harrison, who assumed his role as chief of staff in January, had previously served as the chairman of the United States Arctic Research Commission during the first Trump administration until spring 2021. In March, Trump addressed Congress, pledging to revitalize the struggling U.S. shipbuilding industry and announced the establishment of a new shipbuilding office in the White House.
The focus on shipbuilding has shifted to the Office of Management and Budget following the removal of advocate Mike Waltz from the National Security Council due to the “Signalgate” scandal. This incident involved Waltz creating a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss a U.S. military action in Yemen, which inadvertently included the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, leading to the sharing of sensitive, classified information.
The Pentagon Inspector General’s office is currently investigating the Signal incident.
