Top Navy leader resigns after ‘stupid’ insult
WASHINGTON — Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned Tuesday, according to two officials, just hours after he had publicly apologized for a profanity-laced upbraiding of the officer he fired as captain of the coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the matter before an official announcement.
Modly’s designated replacement will be James McPherson, a Navy veteran who is currently serving as undersecretary of the Army. He was confirmed in that position by the Senate last month. Before that, he was the Army’s general counsel.
Modly had created a combustible controversy by firing the Roosevelt’s skipper, Capt. Brett Crozier, last week, saying Crozier had shown “extremely poor judgment” in widely distributing by email a letter calling for urgent help with the
COVID-19 outbreak aboard his ship.
Modly then flew to the ship, at port in Guam, and delivered a speech to the crew Sunday in which he criticized Crozier, saying he was either “too naive or too stupid” to be in charge of an aircraft carrier.
On Monday night, at the insistence of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Modly issued a public apology, but by then the calls among Democrats in Congress for his resignation were mounting. On Tuesday morning, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Modly must go.
“Sadly, acting Secretary Modly’s actions and words demonstrate his failure to prioritize the force protection of our troops,” Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said in a statement. Modly must be removed from his position or resign, she added.
At least 173 sailors aboard the ship had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Monday. About 2,000 of the 4,865 crew members had been taken off the ship to be tested.
The episode, which began when the Roosevelt reported its first COVID-19 case on March 22, is one of the more dramatic moments in recent U.S. military history.
Esper had publicly expressed his support for Modly’s decision to fire Crozier, but after Modly’s speech, Esper grew unsettled. Just hours after Modly issued a statement Monday defending his words, Esper compelled Modly to reverse course and issue a public apology.
“I want to apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused,” he wrote, referring to his speech aboard the Roosevelt. “I also want to apologize directly to Capt. Crozier, his family, and the entire crew of the Theodore Roosevelt for any pain my remarks may have caused.”
Esper’s staff had told Modly he must apologize, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he might get involved, agreeing that Modly’s criticism of Crozier was “a rough statement.” He said Crozier made a mistake when he sent a memo to several people laying out his concerns about the crew and the virus. In the memo, which was leaked to the media, Crozier said: “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die.”
Modly, a 1983 Naval Academy graduate, became the acting Navy secretary in November after Richard Spencer was ousted from the position.