Trump Risks Stability by Nominating Official for Actual Job

President Donald Trump endangered one of his administration’s most dependable governing traditions Tuesday by nominating acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to become the actual Navy secretary, recklessly suggesting that a senior federal official should occasionally hold the position he occupies. The decision would subject Cao to Senate confirmation, an antiquated constitutional ritual involving public questions, recorded votes and the dangerous possibility that Americans might learn who runs the Navy. Cao, a retired Navy captain and 25-year veteran, has served in the acting role since John Phelan’s departure, preserving the modern executive principle that leadership works best when nobody can say whether the boss is permanent, temporary or checking his phone for a dismissal notice.

“The acting system is tremendous because everyone is acting, nobody is confirmed, and the government moves much faster when the Senate has no idea whom it is supposed to question,” Trump said. “Hung has acted so permanently that we must now permanently recognize the outstanding temporary acting he has done.” Constitutional enthusiasts warned that submitting Cao’s name could unleash hearings, paperwork and several consecutive hours of senators pronouncing “civilian oversight” with grave concern. Confirmation could also give Cao the destabilizing impression that his authority derives from federal law rather than a presidential announcement written between television segments.

The nomination further threatens to reward qualifications. Cao graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, served as an explosive-ordnance-disposal and diving officer, and spent decades in uniform, a résumé critics described as dangerously relevant to the department he would oversee. Administration traditionalists noted that such credentials could establish an expectation that nominees understand their agencies before dismantling, reorganizing or renaming them. The Senate is expected to consider Cao unless Trump restores institutional stability by withdrawing the nomination, appointing another acting secretary and insisting Cao was never under consideration. Until then, Washington must confront the established fact that Senate-confirmed leadership is the greatest threat facing the United States Navy.

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