Donald Trump has nominated acting navy secretary Hung Cao to take on the job permanently, citing his military background, as concerns grow over the strain on sailors during the Iran war.
“I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR,” Trump wrote on social media, urging the Senate “to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP.”
Cao has been serving as acting navy secretary since John Phelan departed the job unexpectedly and without explanation in late April. Unlike Phelan, who had not served in the military or held a civilian leadership role in the service, Cao spent 25 years in the navy as a special operations officer and went on to serve with Seal teams and special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cao’s background and nomination
Cao on social media called it the “honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team”.
His nomination comes as some, including Democrats in Congress, believe Trump has been overtaxing the navy. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier’s nine-month deployment to support the Iran war has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea.
Iran attacks and rising tensions
It comes as Iran launched a wave of attacks on US sites across the Middle East, with violence surging after an extensive American bombardment. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced attacks on US bases in Jordan, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, in the six-month conflict’s heaviest exchange in weeks.
Trump had warned earlier of “much harder and higher” attacks if Iran retaliated to the US strikes, which Iran’s military and state media said killed 18 people.
The renewed attacks deepen the impasse in the war, where Iran maintains a stranglehold on the strait of Hormuz oil export route with the US pressing a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Other political developments
Senator Ed Markey won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts, beating back a challenge from Seth Moulton, who argued his opponent was too old to be effective at his job. Progressive lawmakers and the organization Our Revolution hailed the victory.
Democratic leaders in the US House sharply criticized two representatives for defecting and joining with Republicans in order to advance a procedural vote, describing it as a “significant breach of trust,” that requires “a serious response”.
The US House of Representatives voted to censure Chuck Edwards, a Republican congressman who the ethics committee found violated rules against sexual harassment in his conduct towards two young female staffers.
The Trump administration seized on House Democrats voting against a resolution denouncing socialism, condemning the lawmakers as “sick [and] dangerous”. The resolution included language calling for the enactment of Trump’s SAVE America Act, a strict voting bill that would ban mail-in ballots and require voters to prove their citizenship.
Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, criticized Donald Trump for withholding $87m in counter-terrorism funds from the state, describing the move as a betrayal of 9/11 victims. Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has apparently taken steps to advance the president’s efforts to limit voting.
