Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has resigned, a U.S. official told Fox News on Tuesday, one day after Modly apologized for suggesting the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt was either "too naïve or too stupid" -- or perhaps even deliberately insubordinate -- over his handling of the ship's coronavirus outbreak.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper spoke privately with Modly one-on-one earlier Tuesday morning, Fox News is told. Modley arrived at the conclusion that he should submit his resignation on his own, the sources said, and Esper then spoke to the president, who accepted the reason for the resignation.

"This morning I accepted Secretary Modly's resignation," Esper tweeted Tuesday afternoon. "With the approval of the President, I am appointing current Army Undersecretary Jim McPherson as acting Secretary of the Navy."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nav...sevelt-crozier