Pete Hegseth ‘butted heads’ with Navy secretary over shipbuilding and push to ignore judge’s orders before firing: reports

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsPete Hegseth ‘butted heads’ with Navy secretary over shipbuilding and push to ignore judge’s orders before firing: reportsPhelan’s dismissal marks the second major leadership shake-up at the Pentagon during the Iran warBrendan Rascius in New York Friday 24 April 2026 00:18 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2963946","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hegseth-navy-secretary-john-phelan-b2963946.html","title":"Pete Hegseth ‘butted heads’ with Navy secretary over judge’s orders: reports"}}CloseNavy Secretary ousted in latest top military departure from Trump administration as US wages war in IranSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSe...