Pentagon Chief Accepts Acting Navy Secretary's Resignation

April 7, 2020

File photo: Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly speaks at a Pentagon press briefing, Washington, D.C., April 2, 2020. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that he had accepted Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly’s resignation.

“This morning I accepted Secretary Modly’s resignation. He resigned on his own accord, putting the Navy and the Sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy, as an institution, can move forward,” Esper said in a statement.

Esper said that with President Donald Trump’s approval, Army Undersecretary Jim McPherson would take over as acting Navy Secretary.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Eric Beech Editing by Chris Reese)

Navy • Government Update • Safety & Security