Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has withdrawn the nomination of Rear Adm. Michael “Buzz” Donnelly to lead the Navy’s Japan-based 7th Fleet and a promotion to three-star vice admiral, a senior defense official said Friday.
President Trump nominated him for the position on June 18. The 7th Fleet is the Navy’s largest overseas force.
“The Secretary is thankful for [Adm. Donnelly’s] continued service and wishes him luck in his next position,” the senior defense officials said in a statement to The Washington Times.
The Pentagon did not confirm the reason for the withdrawal of Adm. Donnelly’s nomination, which could mean the end of his Navy career. But he was the commander of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier from 2016 to 2018, when a sailor staged Navy-sanctioned drag queen performances aboard the warship under the drag name “Harpy Daniels.”
“My issue is not the sailors’ sexual orientation,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville,