Navy chief of staff Jon Harrison was removed from his role on Friday in the latest Pentagon shakeup under War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Jon Harrison will no longer serve as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy,” a War Department spokesperson told The Post. “We are grateful for his service to the Department.”
Harrison, a political appointee of President Trump, was reportedly fired by Hegseth after he helped implement sweeping changes to the Navy’s policy and budgeting offices, according to Politico.
The reorganization was completed ahead of this week’s Senate confirmation of Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao – a former Republican Virginia Senate candidate – in an effort to limit the high-profile Trump pick’s influence, according to the outlet.
Several aides who were expected to assist Cao in the undersecretary role were reassigned by Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Harrison as part of the reshuffle, according to Politico, and the pair also planned to interview the incoming undersecretary’s future military aides to “ensure decisions came from the secretary’s office.”
Harrison’s departure is the latest in a string of firings at the Pentagon.
Hegseth previously ousted former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff C.Q. Brown and former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.
He also axed three key War Department aides — Pentagon senior adviser Dan Caldwell, former deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and former chief of staff to the deputy secretary of war Colin Carroll – earlier this year after a bureaucratic turf war fueled by ego and personality clashes, The Post previously reported.
“As you have seen and the media has obsessed over, I have fired a number of senior officers since taking over,” Hegseth told a gathering of military leaders earlier this week. “The previous chairman, other members of the Joint Chiefs [of Staff], combatant commanders and other commanders.”
“The rationale for me has been straightforward: It’s nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create or even benefited from that culture, even if that culture was created by a previous president and previous secretary.”
Trump announced earlier in the day that on Sunday he will be hosting “a Salute to the Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia, to honor our brave men and women of the United States Navy.”
First lady Melania Trump, Hegseth and Phelan will join the president in marking “250 years of MARITIME DOMINANCE in the United States of America,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Thousands of our brave Active Duty Servicemembers and Military Families will be in attendance, and I look forward to this special day with all of them,” Trump said, arguing that “THE SHOW MUST GO ON!” despite the government shutdown.
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