A senior official with the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that President Donald Trump’s acting secretary of Homeland Security, Benjamine Huffman, fired the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard shortly after the start of Trump’s second administration.
In a message sent to the U.S. Coast Guard workforce on Monday, Huffman announced that 61-year-old Adm. Linda Lee Fagan was relieved of her duties as commandant.
“Under my statutory authority as the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security I have relieved Admiral Linda L. Fagan of her duties as Commandant of the United States Coast Guard,” Huffman said. “She served a long and illustrious career, and I thank her for her service to our nation.”
Huffman added, “Admiral Kevin E. Lunday, by operation of law, is now the Acting Commandant of the United States Coast Guard and assumes all the authority and responsibilities of the office.”
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A senior Department of Homeland Security official told Fox News that Fagan was relieved of her duties due to concerns regarding an “erosion of trust,” recruitment issues, and border security failures at the U.S. Coast Guard.
The anonymous Homeland Security official told Fox News that Fagan’s leadership failures included the mismanagement of acquiring important military assets, an insufficient response to border security threats, poor recruitment and retention efforts, an emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and an “erosion of trust” caused by the military branch’s cover-up of an internal investigation into sexual assault incidents known as Operation Fouled Anchor.
Fox News reported that Fagan was the first female head of a U.S. military branch and has served as the 27th commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard since June 1, 2022. The outlet noted that as commandant, Fagan was responsible for the oversight of 42,00 active-duty service members, 7,000 reserve members, 8,700 civilian personnel, and 21,000 Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers.
A picture of Fagan was shared Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, by Libs of TikTok.