President Trump on Tuesday nominated Hung Cao to become Navy Secretary, after serving in the post in an acting capacity since April.
“I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR, Hung Cao, to become the next Secretary of the Navy,” President Trump said in a post on social media.
“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 called on the Senate to confirm “this Warfighter, ASAP, so he can continue the fantastic work he has been doing over the past 4 months.”
The announcement comes one day after Mr. Trump accepted the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and four months after former Navy Secretary John C. Phelan was forced to resign.
Mr. Cao, a retired Navy captain, came to the U.S. as a refugee from South Vietnam as the pro-American regime there collapsed in 1975.
He was initially appointed as acting Navy secretary in April after Mr. Phelan left the position of Navy secretary.
Mr. Cao graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1996 and served 25 years in special operations — including deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia — and retired at the rank of captain in 2021.
He was confirmed as Navy undersecretary in a 52-45 Senate vote last October.
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