Thomas Modly

Congressmen Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) called on the Department of Defense Inspector General to investigate whether Acting Secretary Modly had acted inappropriately in relieving Crozier of his command. The following week they sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper calling for Modly to be fired because of his comments to sailors aboard the Theodore Roosevelt and his decision to relieve Crozier. Several other Democratic members of Congress, including Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, joined in the call for Modly's resignation or removal. On April 7, Modly apologized for his comments and resigned from his position. He later said in a U.S. Naval Institute podcast, released on February 24, 2021, "I didn't want the TR situation, the COVID situation, and the Captain Crozier situation to dominate the Navy any more and so I figured if I had stayed there it would. It would have lingered for more time and it would have distracted the Navy from what it needed to do."

Captain Brett Crozier was captain of the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, deployed in the Pacific. On March 24, 2020, after two weeks at sea, three members of the crew tested positive for COVID-19. The next day, eight more sailors were infected, and within a few days it was "dozens."

On April 2, 2020, while serving as Acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly dismissed Captain Crozier from command of the Theodore Roosevelt. Modly said he had lost confidence in Crozier's judgment because he claimed the letter went against the advice of Admiral Michael M. Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, who argued that usual Navy procedures would require an investigation before such an action.

Modly was nominated as Under Secretary of the Navy by President Donald Trump in September 2017 and was confirmed by the Senate two months later on November 25, 2019, following the firing of Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. As Acting Secretary of the Navy, Modly advocated for building a larger fleet beyond the 355 ship goal established by Congress. He referred to this goal as "355 Plus" because it would include unmanned vessels along with a larger number of smaller and more distributed surface ships.

Modly also said he acted to prevent a repetition of a 2019 incident in which "the Navy Department got crossways with the president" after Trump's intervention in the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. "I put myself in the president's shoes," Modly stated. "I considered how the president felt like he needed to get involved in Navy decisions. I didn't want that to happen again." The situation has been described as highlighting "a growing divide between senior uniformed commanders and their civilian bosses".

Modly, who was confirmed as the United States Under Secretary of the Navy on December 4, 2017, also temporarily performed the duties of the Secretary of the Navy while Richard V. Spencer was acting Secretary of Defense and acting Deputy Secretary of Defense from July 15, 2019, to July 31, 2019.

Thomas B. Modly (born December 15, 1960) is an American businessman and former government official who served as acting United States Secretary of the Navy from November 24, 2019, to April 7, 2020. He resigned as acting Secretary in the wake of his firing and berating Brett Crozier, the captain of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, for allegedly going outside his chain of command in calling for help to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak onboard. Later, Modly traveled to the ship at port in Guam, where he addressed the crew in a manner that was perceived as disrespectful. He was subsequently widely criticized, and submitted a letter of resignation.

Born in 1960, Modly is the son of Eastern European immigrants who escaped from behind the Iron Curtain after World War II. Modly was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, graduating from Shaker Heights High School in 1979. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy class of 1983, Georgetown University, and Harvard Business School.