U.S. Senate Votes 62-30 On Critical Trump Nominee As White House Awaits On Pins And Needles - President Advised After Chamber Confirms His Choice For Navy Secretary
Senate Confirms Another Top Trump Nominee
Posted July 23, 2026The U.S. Senate voted to confirm John Phelan as the next Secretary of the Navy.
Phelan, the founder of a private investment firm and a major donor to former President Trump’s campaign, was confirmed by a 62-30 vote in the full Senate.
Despite having no prior military experience, Phelan secured bipartisan support for the role.
While Phelan did not face direct opposition during his nomination hearing, some lawmakers voiced concerns over his lack of military service or experience managing any civilian branch of the Pentagon.
Phelan, however, contended that his private-sector background uniquely positions him to address the Navy’s persistent challenges, including failed audits, workforce issues, cost overruns, and delays in shipbuilding.
He is the founder and chair of Rugger Management LLC, a Florida-based private investment firm, and previously served as managing partner of MSD Capital, a private equity firm.
During his confirmation hearing, Phelan stated that his outside business experience would aid the Navy in urgent need of reform.
“The U.S. Navy is at a crossroads, extended deployments, inadequate maintenance, huge cost overruns, delayed shipbuilding, failed audits, subpar housing, and sadly, record high suicide rates are systemic failures that have gone unaddressed for far too long, and frankly, this is unacceptable,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Phelan told the panel the Trump administration’s top priority for the Department of the Navy was shipbuilding, which is years behind schedule and experiencing major cost overruns, especially for submarines and large capital warships like aircraft carriers.
“I don’t think I could say shipbuilding enough times,” he told the panel during his confirmation hearing when asked about President Donald Trump’s priorities, USNI noted.
He committed to reviewing the Navy’s current contracts and ensuring a clean audit for the Department of the Navy.
“I intend to sit down day one, and we are going to go through every contract that we have and understand what exactly they say and what flexibility they do or do not give us, what contract needs to change or not change, and why,” he told the panel.
“I intend to do the same thing as it relates to an audit. I need to understand why the Navy cannot pass an audit,” he added.
He also told the committee that while he respects and appreciates “stability and tradition,” when it “suffocates adaptability, innovation, collaboration and trust, it erodes an organization’s ability to win.”
Phelan went on to argue that he understands “that some may question why a businessman who did not wear the uniform should lead the Navy,” and he respected that concern.
“The Navy and the Marine Corps already possess extraordinary operational expertise within their ranks. My role is to utilize that expertise and strengthen it to step outside the status quo and take decisive action with a results-oriented approach,” he said, The Hill noted.
During his confirmation hearing, Phelan honed in on the much-delayed Constellation-class frigate program, vowing to quickly evaluate the program’s problems.
“This program is a mess from what it looks like,” Phelan told the panel. “If confirmed, I plan to dig into this very quickly and understand the issues. And we’ll come back to this committee very fast with the knowledge that we have as soon as we get to the root cause of the problem.”
During the hearing, retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), whose home state borders the Wisconsin shipyard building the frigate, pressed John Phelan on the ongoing program at Fincantieri Marinette Marine.
The confirmation is another significant victory for President Trump and his administration as they prepare for a productive second year in office with many items on the agenda to accomplish.
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Posting as GuestCBS Host LOSES IT After Sen. Kennedy FACT CHECKS Her Trump LIES… THIS GOT BAD!...
CBS Host PRESSES John Kennedy on Trump’s Spending — His Answer Takes an Unexpected Turn
The interview began with some of the biggest questions facing Washington: the conflict with Iran, rising fuel costs, and the approaching midterm elections. But when Republican Senator John Kennedy appeared on Face the Nation with CBS host Margaret Brennan, the conversation quickly moved toward an issue that could shape the political debate for months to come: how the government spends taxpayers’ money.
Kennedy did not pretend that the economic pressure facing American families was insignificant. He argued that voters were far more concerned about the cost of living than the daily battles playing out on television. With oil prices affected by disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, he said, the consequences of foreign policy were reaching directly into household budgets.
Kennedy Brings the Conversation Back to Affordability
Kennedy’s message to the White House was unusually direct. He predicted that the midterm elections would be close and argued that Republicans needed to keep their attention on the financial concerns of ordinary Americans.
“When moms and dads lie down to sleep at night and can't,” Kennedy told Brennan, they are worried about the cost of living.
He also called for a nationwide address explaining why the United States entered the conflict with Iran, what the administration hoped to achieve, and how it intended to bring the situation to a conclusion.
His position was not a blanket rejection of the administration’s strategy. Kennedy defended continued pressure on Iran while acknowledging the economic consequences of the partially closed strait. He opposed sending American troops into the situation, warning that deploying them could create a new set of problems.
That combination—support for pressure abroad alongside concern about prices at home—set the tone for the rest of the interview.
Nearly $1 Billion in Cuts Sparks a Constitutional Dispute
The conversation became more pointed when Brennan asked about the White House’s decision to cancel nearly $1 billion in previously approved federal funding without congressional consent.
Brennan raised concerns expressed by Senator Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who argued that the move threatened Congress’s constitutional authority over federal spending.
Kennedy disagreed.
“I love Susan like a taco, but she's wrong,” he said before explaining his view that Congress often appropriates money in broad categories, leaving agencies with considerable discretion over how funds are ultimately used.
He then deployed the phrase that would become the interview’s most memorable sound bite: “Spending porn.”
Kennedy used the expression to criticize what he considers wasteful government expenditures, pointing to funding for circumcision programs in Zambia and electric buses in Rwanda. He also argued that Congress should take greater responsibility for identifying and eliminating spending it believes is unnecessary.
But the disagreement was about more than whether particular programs were worthwhile. It raised a larger question: when Congress approves funding, how much authority should the executive branch have to cancel or redirect it?
Kennedy defended the cuts, while Brennan’s question highlighted the legal and constitutional objections. The interview did not resolve that dispute, but it brought the competing arguments into sharp focus.
Then Kennedy Turned the Standard on Trump
The most revealing moment came when Brennan shifted from the proposed cuts to taxpayer-funded advertising.
She asked Kennedy about a government-funded commercial prominently featuring President Donald Trump and praising his leadership. The question echoed earlier controversy surrounding former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department had spent $220 million on a border-security advertising campaign in which she appeared prominently.
Kennedy had previously criticized Noem’s campaign. Now, with Trump featured in another advertisement paid for by the federal government, Brennan asked whether that spending was appropriate.
Kennedy’s response was notable because he explicitly included his own political allies—and himself—in the principle he was defending.
“I don't think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves,” he said.
He acknowledged that the White House viewed the issue differently but argued that public funds should not be used to promote individual politicians. He also suggested that politicians should not have buildings named after them while they are still alive.
That answer complicated any attempt to portray his position as simply a defense of the administration. Kennedy supported the proposed spending cuts, but he also applied his criticism of taxpayer-funded self-promotion to Trump.
The Real Takeaway From the Interview
The exchange was not a shouting match, nor does the published transcript establish that Brennan lost her composure or that Kennedy fact-checked a series of false statements from her. What it does show is a pointed discussion about economic priorities, congressional spending authority, and whether public money should be used to enhance a politician’s image.
Kennedy’s argument was straightforward: families are worried about affordability, government spending deserves scrutiny, and the rules should apply regardless of party.
Whether viewers agree with his assessment of the proposed cuts is a separate question. The legal dispute over executive spending authority and the debate over taxpayer-funded political advertising deserve examination beyond a few memorable television lines.
The moment worth watching is when Brennan moves from criticizing government spending in general to asking Kennedy about an advertisement featuring Trump himself. That is where the discussion becomes more complicated—and where Kennedy’s stated principle is tested against his own party’s leadership.
Watch the full interview through the link below to hear the exchange in context and decide how convincing each side’s argument really was.
