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Trump nominates loyalist Hung Cao to be permanent navy secretary amid increased attacks on Iran

Hello and welcome to the US live politics blog.

Donald Trump has picked acting navy secretary Hung Cao to take on the job permanently amid concerns that some sailors have been stretched to the limit during his Iran war.

“I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR,” Trump wrote on social media, pushing the Senate “to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP.”

Cao has been serving as acting navy secretary since John Phelan departed the job unexpectedly and without explanation in late April. Unlike Phelan, who had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service, Cao spent 25 years in the navy as a special operations officer and went on to serve with Seal teams and special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cao on social media called it the “honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team”.

Cao’s nomination comes as some, including Democrats in Congress, believe Trump has been overtaxing the navy. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier’s nine-month deployment to support the Iran war has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea.

It comes as Iran launched a wave of attacks on US sites across the Middle East, with violence surging after an extensive American bombardment. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced attacks on US bases in Jordan, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, in the six-month conflict’s heaviest exchange in weeks.

Trump had warned earlier of “much harder and higher” attacks if Iran retaliated to the US strikes, which Iran’s military and state media said killed 18 people.

The renewed attacks deepen the impasse in the war, where Iran maintains a stranglehold on the strait of Hormuz oil export route with the US pressing a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

In other developments:

Senator Ed Markey won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts, beating back a challenge from Seth Moulton, who argued his opponent was too old to be effective at his job. Progressive lawmakers and the organization Our Revolution hailed the victory.
Democratic leaders in the US House sharply criticized two representatives for defecting and joining with Republicans in order to advance a procedural vote, describing it as a “significant breach of trust,” that requires “a serious response”.
The US House of Representative voted to censure Chuck Edwards, a Republican congressman who the ethics committee found violated rules against sexual harassment in his conduct towards two young female staffers.
The Trump administration seized on House Democrats voting against a resolution denouncing socialism, condemning the lawmakers as “sick [and] dangerous”. The resolution included language calling for the enactment of Trump’s SAVE America Act, a strict voting bill that would ban mail-in ballots and require voters to prove their citizenship.
Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, criticized Donald Trump for withholding $87m in counter-terrorism funds from the state, describing the move as a betrayal of 9/11 victims.
Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has apparently taken steps to advance the president’s efforts to limit voting.

Key events

Two of the Democratic representatives who defected and joined the Republicans in voting in favor of a resolution condemning socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America organisation have defended their actions on social media.

Democratic leaders in the US House had sharply criticized the representatives for defecting and joining with Republicans in order to advance a procedural vote.

“The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, the caucus chair, said in a statement.

“It is an action that necessitates a serious response, and we have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take this up in short order.”

The statement was referring to moderates Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden. The bills included a resolution condemning socialism, which also called for the enactment of Trump’s SAVE America Act, that eight Democrats voted to pass.

Congressman Golden wrote on X:

I just voted to fund government through December 11, preventing a shutdown in October. The bill passed the House 370-48. In an election season without a budget deal, the risk of political games is high. This CR removes the ability for either party to hold the government hostage and gives Congress time to negotiate an appropriations deal.

Representative Gluesenkamp Perez also said:

Working America is hanging on by a thread, trying to feed our families without being beholden to big government or big business. Standing around pointing fingers, debating -isms and making people photocopy their birth certificate every time they cast a ballot is not the job.

The other six Democrats to vote in favor of the resolution were Kathy Castor, Henry Cuellar, Don Davis, Vicente Gonzalez Jr, Darren Soto and Gabe Vasquez.

Teamsters union leaders support Republicans despite members endorsing Democratic candidates

Michael Sainato

The powerful Teamsters union is backing Republican candidates in the 2026 election cycle even after members have voted to support their Democrat opponents.

The 1.3 million-strong union’s president, Sean O’Brien, angered many members and union leaders in 2024 when he became the first union president to speak at the Republican national convention (RNC).

The latest moves by the union’s leadership are further stoking tensions within the union.

“The Republicans have done nothing but take a gun to our head at every turn. And why we think that we can somehow change their behavior, I don’t understand it. It’s not a logical argument,” said John Palmer, who was elected on O’Brien’s slate in 2021 as an at-large vice-president on the Teamsters executive board, but who broke ranks in criticizing O’Brien’s RNC appearance in 2024. “I live in Texas. I’m a moderate guy, but I know when somebody’s trying to cut my throat.”

The national union declined to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election for the first time since 1996, claiming a majority of members supported Trump after they supported Biden in 2020, though Teamsters locals and councils representing 1 million members at the union independently endorsed Harris.

So far this election cycle, O’Brien has made two personal contributions – both to Republicans.

O’Brien donated $1,000 to the Republican US Senate campaign of Scott Brown in New Hampshire on 19 February 2026. Brown appeared on O’Brien’s podcast, Better Bad Ideas, on 25 February.

The only Teamsters’ local in New Hampshire, Teamsters Local 633, endorsed Brown’s Democratic rival Chris Pappas for the Senate race in April 2025. Teamsters Local 633 did not respond to multiple requests for comment.