The ouster of Navy Secretary John Phelan after 13 months comes amid a tumultuous period for the Trump administration in which several high-profile Cabinet members and senior members of the military have departed.
Since March, at least five high-ranking officials have been forced out of their roles or resigned under pressure. The two-month window coincides with a deeply unpopular U.S.-Israeli war against Iran that has raised energy prices and pushed down President Donald Trump’s approval ratings, and follows the ouster of other senior leaders earlier in his second term.
Here’s a look at those who have left so far and why.
Navy Secretary John Phelan
The Navy secretary will depart the Pentagon after 13 months, Sean Parnell, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said Wednesday.
The billionaire art collector and Trump fundraiser was asked to step down, according to an administration official who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. His ouster is the latest in a long-running purge of the military’s senior ranks under Hegseth, and came after repeated clashes with the defense secretary over Phelan’s management of shipbuilding and other issues, five officials told The Post.
Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao will become the service’s acting secretary, Parnell said.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George
Gen. Randy George retired from his position this month, in an extraordinary move amid the war in Iran.
He had been expected to stay in position until the fall of 2027, but Hegseth asked him to step down, defense officials told The Post. Two other Army generals were removed: Gen. David Hodne, who took over the service’s Training and Transformation Command in October, and Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., chief of Army chaplains. It wasn’t clear why Hegseth targeted the three men.
The ouster of George meant Hegseth had nearly remade the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a senior panel of military officers who advise the president and defense secretary. In February 2025, the Trump administration dismissed Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Lisa Franchetti, head of the U.S. Navy; Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard; and Gen. James Slife, vice chief of staff of the Air Force. In August, Hegseth asked Gen. David Allvin, chief of staff of the Air Force, to retire early.
Attorney General Pam Bondi
Bondi was ousted as attorney general this month, ending a 14-month tenure at the top of the Justice Department.
Trump described Bondi as a “Great American Patriot and a loyal friend” in a post announcing her departure, saying she would transition to a “much needed and important new job” in the private sector. During her leadership, Trump had grown frustrated with Bondi’s pace and limited success overseeing efforts to target his rivals, as the Justice Department’s public release of files connected to its investigations of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein remained a point of political pain.
She has been replaced by Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, until a permanent replacement can be confirmed.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer
The labor secretary resigned from her position to take a job in the private sector, the White House said Monday, a departure that came amid pressure over professional misconduct allegations.
Accusations that Chavez-DeRemer engaged in misconduct, including personal travel during taxpayer-funded trips, surfaced in a complaint filed with the Labor Department’s inspector general. Her attorney, Nick Oberheiden, said she had resigned to ensure the Labor Department’s work could continue “without distraction,” but that it did “not result from legal wrongdoings.”
White House spokesman Steven Cheung said the deputy labor secretary, Keith Sonderling, would become the acting head of the agency.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem
Trump announced in March he would replace Noem with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, moving her to a new role as “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a security initiative in the Western hemisphere.
The move came amid mounting criticism of her leadership of the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive deportation agenda, with even some Republicans questioning her fitness for the role. Noem’s top aide, Corey Lewandowski, who had previously worked for Trump before being ousted himself, left the department the same month.
The post Who’s out in the Trump administration’s spring shakeup appeared first on Washington Post.
