House Armed Services chairman calls for Trump to fire Navy secretary

House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) is calling for acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to resign for his criticism Monday of ex-Capt. Brett Crozier, who Modly fired last week for his handling of a coronavirus outbreak on his ship.

Modly told the crew of the USS Roosevelt, that their former captain "native and stupid" for having wrote a letter requesting assistance due to coronavirus cases on the ship.

"There is no, no situation where you go to the media, because the media has an agenda and the agenda that they have depends on which part of the political aisle they sit," Modly said in the leaked audio recording. "And I'm sorry that's the way the country is now, but that's the truth and so they use it to divide us. They use it to embarrass the Navy."

Smith characterized Modley's decision to remove Crozier "at best an overreaction to the extraordinary steps" that Crozier took to "protect" his crew on the ship.
 
“Acting Secretary Modly’s decision to address the sailors on the Roosevelt and personally attack Captain Crozier shows a tone-deaf approach more focused on personal ego than one of the calm, steady leadership we so desperately need in this crisis," Smith said in a statement. “I no longer have confidence in Acting Secretary Modly’s leadership of the Navy and believe he should be removed from his position.”

Other Democrats including Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have called for Modly to resign or be removed.