WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) — John Phelan, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Navy, faced a tense confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday as Democratic lawmakers scrutinized plans to improve the Navy’s operations amid budget cuts to the armed forces.
Phelan, an investor and businessman with no prior military experience, argued that his experience in managing large teams of professionals would translate into managing the U.S. Navy, which has a workforce of more than 900,000 people and a budget that exceeds $210 billion.
He pointed to his experience in the private sector — he is the founder and chairman of Rugger Management LLC — and the key role it would play in reducing costs and increasing shipbuilding, which he said was one of Trump’s priorities.
Phelan, who originally is from Coral Gables, Fla., also is chairman of Spirit of America, which works with troops and diplomats to meet needs around the world and support the U.S. mission. The group backs Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“President Trump was right,” Phelan said in his opening statement. “Achieving peace through strength is essential to deterrence and protecting our freedom and our way of life.”
Phelan, who said Trump would text him “at like one in the morning,” outlined his goals if confirmed.
“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 committee.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the committee’s ranking member, expressed concern that Phelan might struggle to understand the Navy’s complex structure concerning armed services’ internal issues and international threats.
“I think you’ll quickly come to discover that … the cultures of the Navy are interesting and will present a challenge to understand,” Reed told him.
Republican senators pushed back against doubting his background, portraying his business experience as an asset instead of a liability.
“If we threw a zillion dollars at the Department of the Navy today, we couldn’t build the ships because we don’t have the industrial base,” said Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.
“We’ve got to fix that. And I think that’s why the president looked to an entrepreneur and an experienced business person.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed Phelan on the recent wave of Department of Defense firings, which included chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.
“Have you spoken to [Franchetti]?” Blumenthal asked.
“I have not, senator,” said Phelan, before hesitating on whether he planned to do so. “If confirmed, senator, I’m happy to hear her views and understand her perspective on things.”
The exchange preceded Blumenthal’s concerns over the Trump administration’s spending and personnel cuts to the armed forces, during which he cited Phelan’s business experience.
“Would you walk into a situation in a deal — you’ve done many, you’ve turned around corporations — where there was a 10% slash in workforce?” Blumenthal asked.
“It’s a hard question to answer,” Phelan replied.
Phelan did not respond to the harms the Department of Government Efficiency could pose to the Navy when Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, asked whether “Elon Musk with his chainsaw, cutting government programs and eliminating positions without any transparency or criteria” would negatively impact the strength and readiness of the Navy as a yes or no question.
“It’s a hypothetical question. I don’t actually know what DOGE is doing, how they’re doing it, I’m not privy to that,” Phelan answered.
“OK, that’s kind of amazing because you’re going to lead the Navy and not to insult you or anything, but I don’t think you need a lot of information to conclude that a slash-and-burn approach to programs and personnel is the way to go,” Hirono countered.
Phelan vowed to review contracts that deny sailors information necessary to conduct their own repairs, which resulted in “millions in travel costs” that included taxpayer money, according to a ProPublica investigation.
If confirmed, Phelan would be the first person in 15 years to lead the Navy without military experience in any branch of the U.S. armed forces.
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