Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly submitted his resignation late Tuesday, after calling the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's coronavirus-stricken crew.
(At the time of this blog post, is not yet clear whether his resignation has been accepted.)
This news comes hours after Modly finally apologized for ridiculing USS Theodore Roosevelt captain Brett Crozier, whose crew considered him a hero.
Speaking to those men, some of whom have since become sickened with coronavirus and COVID-19, Modly mocked their fired commander as "stupid or naive."
Modly submitted his letter of resignation late Tuesday to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and told staff he was quitting.
James McPherson, acting undersecretary of the U.S. Army, will reportedly take his place——again, 'acting,' at Trump's behest.
Meanwhile, congress calls for investigations, and we today learned the Trump administration just fired an experienced inspector general at the Defense Department who would be precisely the official tasked with conducting such an investigation.
Nothing matters.
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has resigned, one day after flying to Guam and criticizing a fired aircraft carrier skipper to his former crew, CNN reports: https://t.co/cjCkKy3jjG
How we got here: a Roosevelt timeline: https://t.co/jVl0MNgvpP
— Bradley Peniston (@navybook) April 7, 2020
Scoop: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has submitted his resignation a day after a leaked audio showed him calling ousted commander of USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in address to ship's crew, a US official and a former senior military official tell me.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) April 7, 2020
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has resigned after criticizing the former captain of the Roosevelt. He will be replaced by James McPherson, the acting undersecretary of the Army. @glubold scoop https://t.co/PQRDAk8tu8
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) April 7, 2020
The safety of our troops should be paramount, which is something Captain Crozier understood. Acting Secretary Modly showed poor leadership at this crucial moment, and his resignation is a welcome development. https://t.co/NkrEstGNY5
— Chris Pappas (@ChrisPappasNH) April 7, 2020
Acting Navy Sec Thomas Modly has resigned amid backlash for calling an ousted Navy captain "stupid" for warning officials about a coronavirus-stricken warship https://t.co/Ex1oIgM79U
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) April 7, 2020
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has submitted a letter of resignation to Defense Secretary Esper and told staff he is quitting after seeing a backlash for admonishing an ousted aircraft carrier commander. https://t.co/RKrMvsmIFF
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 7, 2020
Modly's doubledown-turned-backflip yesterday was actually a back belly flop with a twist. Modly out. https://t.co/RetzC1IZXF
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) April 7, 2020
As Acting Navy Secretary Modly resigns and congress calls for investigations… we learn the Trump administration has replaced the experienced inspector general at the Defense Department who'd conduct such an investigation. https://t.co/S5ainppW4C
— Ben Kesling (@bkesling) April 7, 2020