Acting Navy secretary’s recent military service could keep him from getting the job permanently

By Mike Glenn - The Washington Times - Friday, September 4, 2026

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao spent 25 years in uniform, serving as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.

He retired as a captain five years ago, and that short gap might keep him from getting the secretary job permanently.

President Donald Trump this week tapped the man he called a “true warrior” to take the top Navy job without the “acting” tag.

“We need patriots like Hung leading our Navy and Marine Corps, and I can think of no one better than him to make sure our great Navy and Marine Corps remain the fiercest and best force the world has ever seen,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “The Senate needs to confirm this warfighter ASAP so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past four months.”

Mr. Cao’s military service could be his biggest stumbling block, despite Mr. Trump’s ringing endorsement.

Federal law requires a seven-year waiting period before a former military officer can take the most senior Pentagon jobs like secretary of the Navy. Originally enacted as a 10-year requirement in the National Security Act of 1947, it was shortened to seven years in 2007.

The “cooling-off period” between military and government service is meant to preserve the principle of civilian control of the military.

Mr. Cao retired from the Navy in October 2021. Because his appointment occurred before October 2028, he would need a waiver from the House and Senate to serve as the permanent Navy secretary.

A former Virginia Senate candidate, Mr. Cao took the acting secretary job in April after the previous Navy secretary, John Phelan, was fired.

Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, voted to approve waivers for former Defense Secretaries James Mattis and Lloyd Austin. Both were retired four-star generals when they were nominated for the job, Mr. Mattis during the first Trump administration, and Mr. Austin by President Joseph R. Biden.

But Mr. Rogers said he was frustrated by the “dysfunctional process” used to bring recently retired military officers to the top civilian ranks at the Pentagon.

“Congress should not have to entertain these waivers. Presidents need to follow the law as written,” Mr. Rogers said on the House floor in 2021 amid Mr. Austin’s nomination. “They need to stop asking Congress to waive this statute.”