John Phelan sat in the lobby of the West Wing for more than an hour Wednesday night, waiting to see if his longtime friend and neighbor, President Trump, would save his job. He would leave disappointed.
That afternoon, Phelan, the Navy secretary, had received a phone call from his boss, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asking for his resignation. Phelan had spent much of Wednesday on Capitol Hill, meeting with lawmakers about Navy shipbuilding and the Pentagon's budget request.
A few miles away at the White House, another gathering was taking place that would decide his fate, according to U.S. officials. Hegseth and his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, made the argument to Trump that Phelan wasn't moving quickly enough on Trump's shipbuilding priorities, especially the "Golden Fleet" and increasing reliance on the use of steam. The Navy, they determined, needed new leadership.
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