President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was nominating Hung Cao for the full-time position of secretary of the Navy. Cao has been in the acting role since former Navy Secretary John Phelan’s abrupt departure in April.
Yet, Cao will need more than the Senate’s majority rule approval — his nomination from Trump will also require a special waiver to assume the post.
Under 10 U.S.C. §8013, federal law requires a seven-year waiting period before former military officers can take several top civilian Pentagon jobs, including deputy secretary of defense, under secretary of defense for policy and comptroller and the service secretaries. Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran and current candidate for Virginia’s Second Congressional District, noted the rule on X over the weekend.
“Hung Cao has an incredible personal story, however, he is ineligible to serve as Secretary of the Navy under 10 U.S.C. §8013, which requires Service Secretaries to be retired from active duty a minimum of 7 years,” Luria wrote. “Mr. Cao has only been retired 5 years. The law was changed in 2021 under a bipartisan and bicameral amendment to the NDAA following the waiver of Generals Mattis and Austin to serve as SECDEF.”
Prior to Gen. Jim Mattis’ confirmation as secretary of defense in 2017 and Gen. Lloyd Austin’s in 2021, Congress had granted only one waiver since the creation of the position in 1947. That special congressional waiver went to retired Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Marshall, allowing the famed former general to serve at the post during the Korean War.
Cao, a Navy captain and former special operations officer, retired from the service in 2021. His nomination, according to Politico, also means that the House of Representatives will get involved, “giving lawmakers rare veto power over a senior personnel pick.”
It will also give Senate Democrats the opportunity to filibuster Cao’s nomination even before a confirmation vote, as the waiver requires 60 votes to advance to the nomination stage.
Congress will largely be out of session until the November midterms, meaning that even the preliminary steps to get Cao confirmed have the potential to drag on for months. The Senate will be in town for only three weeks before Nov. 3. The House will be in session for just one week.
“It can be done,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, told Politico. “But we have to get started and get after it now.”
On Sept. 1, Cao acknowledged the Navy secretary nomination, noting that it has been “an honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team. I’m grateful for your leadership and support as we continue to get after shipbuilding and ensure the defense of the homeland.”
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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