SecNav Nominee Shaping Up to Be a Good Guy

Businessman John Phelan, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Navy, was at his confirmation hearing today in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

As my friend Captain John Konrad said, it had the potential to be something different, as Mr Phelan has no previous connection to the Navy and is not a mariner in any capacity.

…This is a historic moment. We’ve heard plenty of testimony lately, but let’s be honest—we knew at least 90% of what they were going to say. 

This one is different. The Navy is in deep trouble, and for the first time in my lifetime, a complete outsider is being brought in to fix it. And not just any outsiders but one of the best financial minds of his generation. 

For years, I’ve said the Navy’s #1 problem is insularity. When trouble hits, they always turn to their own—Navy vets investigating, Navy vets making the plans. Smart guys, but stuck in the same institutional lens.

 This time, we’re finally getting a fresh, outside perspective. I can’t wait.

And I liked what he had to say in his introduction. There wasn’t any schweet talk, that’s for sure.

Wow. New SECNAV John Phelan isn’t pulling punches. In his first public statement, he hammers home that the Navy faces “deep systemic problems” – then drives home the point with a Bull Halsey quote.

This is the kind of leadership truth we have not seen in decades. Buckle up… pic.twitter.com/tqIMw2E6Q1

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) February 27, 2025

Well, wasn’t that a refreshing start!

BREAKING: At his confirmation hearing, the new SECNAV John Phelan says Trump gave him three clear orders:

“SHIPBUILDING. SHIPBUILDING. SHIPBUILDING.”

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) February 27, 2025

Phelan told senators the president often texts him, sometimes at 1 in the morning asking, ‘What are you doing about stopping our ships from rusting?’

BREAKING: At confirmation hearing SECNAV JOHN PHELAN states:

“President Trump texts me often, sometimes after 1AM, asking me what I’m doing to stop rust on our Navy ships” pic.twitter.com/vzNcZG5oCz

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) February 27, 2025

Phelan says he has to remind Trump he’s not the Secretary yet.

This is one of the statistics that, if confirmed, Mr. Phelan is going to be up against. There are 83,000 civilians on the shipbuilding side of the Navy house, and not a ship has been sent out on time or on budget in over 25 years. This is unsustainable in a dangerous world, with China so far ahead of us already.

Listen to @USNavyCNO Franchetti praise @NAVSEA’s 80K civilians, then talk of “getting more players [ships] on the field” @gCaptain’s @johnkonrad often notes NAVSEA employs 83,000 civilians that haven’t delivered a SINGLE ship on time or on budget in 25+ years

Cut the red tape! https://t.co/A3CMAVeuXq pic.twitter.com/MpG7NewYRL

— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) February 3, 2025

Phelan sounds up for the challenge, acknowledging the scope of the years of neglect that has brought the proud service to this sorry state. This is also where a business brain will come in handy. Phelan can look at and make decisions with a cold, discerning eye, having no emotional prior service skin in the game.

…Phelan acknowledged the serious challenges facing the Navy, including the hard fact that it risks losing dominance on the high seas. China’s overwhelming advantage in shipbuilding and heavy investment in fleet modernization have made the PLA Navy the largest naval force by tonnage in the world. Its surface combatants are backed up by the world’s largest merchant fleet and a growing inventory of antiship ballistic missiles. 

“Every shipbuilding delay, every maintenance backlog and every inefficiency is an opening for our adversaries to challenge our dominance. We cannot allow that to happen,” said Phelan. “I would push for a more agile, accountable and flexible shipbuilding strategy by streamlining procurement, enhancing budget flexibility, strengthening partnerships with the defense industrial base, and holding contractors accountable for cost and schedule overruns.”

He wants to see a sense of urgency return to shipbuilding because every ‘maintenance backlog, every inefficiency is an opening for our adversaries to challenge our dominance.’

Time to light a fire under people. And he nails the laissez-faire reactionary attitude of the past four years.

…“I think what is missing from what I can see is a sense of urgency,” Phelan said of the Navy’s shipbuilding record. “We’re just going along and everybody — it’s Kumbaya. It’s almost as if you’re waiting for a crisis to happen to ignite things. And I think in the business of warfare, that’s a dangerous place to be. So I think why the president selected me is I will bring a sense of urgency to this. I will bring a sense of accountability to this.”

Asked about the Constellation-class frigate — one of the most delayed shipbuilding programs, according to a review by the previous administration — Phelan called the program a “mess” and said the service is producing a frigate that “looks more like a carrier, or a battleship or a destroyer.”

He’s also honest enough to admit he’s worried about what he’s going to find when he starts going through the paperwork.

…During the hearing, Phelan, who highlighted his experience as a businessman as a complement to Navy expertise already available in the department, said he is “candidly fearful” for what he will discover once he starts reviewing contracts.

He added that if confirmed, he wants to return to the concept of shared risk, saying that while it’s okay for the private sector to make a profit, it should be based on their share of the risk.

Most opinions are that Mr Phelan will have an easy confirmation process, and all of my Navy friends seem super impressed with him, so there’s a huge positive in his favor.

As I’ve been saying this entire confirmation season, if you want to call it that, these Trump picks have, with the rare exception, just been stellar.

Golly, this is terrific.