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Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan was ousted by the Trump administration Tuesday, on President Trump’s first full day in office. In 2022, Fagan became the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. military.
Fagan was relieved of her duties Monday night in a workforce-wide message by Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Huffman.
“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,” the brief message read, in part. “She served a long and illustrious career, and I thank her for her service to our nation.”
The Coast Guard commandant is appointed for a four-year term, and Fagan had served two years.
A senior DHS official said in a statement that Fagan was terminated “because of her leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.”
In particular, the official said she had failed to address border security threats, citing “insufficient coordination” with DHS on operations along maritime borders and “ineffective deployment of Coast Guard assets” to support efforts to interdict fentanyl and other illicit substances.
The official also cited “significant shortfalls” in recruitment and mismanagement, including “[i]nadequate accountability for acquisition failures highlighted during the Trump 45 Administration.”
During her time as head of the service, Fagan worked to bolster the recruitment and retention of personnel amid a slump in numbers across the U.S. armed forces. Last year, as CBS News reported, the U.S. Coast Guard met its recruitment goals for its active-duty workforce, the reserves and officers for the first time since 2007.
And Hagan was also criticized by the official for “[e]xcessive focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies including at the US Coast Guard Academy, diverting resources and attention from operational imperatives.”
Fagan worked to rebuild trust within the halls of Congress and the agency’s own ranks, following previous revelations that the Coast Guard had mishandled sexual harassment and assault allegations. But the official said there had been a “failure to adequately address the systemic issues” and blamed Fagan for “a leadership culture unwilling to ensure accountability and transparency in protecting service members.”
Adm. Kevin Lunday, the service’s No. 2 in command, was named acting Coast Guard commandant, according to Huffman’s note. Lunday became vice commandant last June.
The Coast Guard, which sits under the Department of Homeland Security, has faced a budget crunch for several administrations. Several recent commandants, including Fagan, had urged lawmakers to fund the construction of new ships and repair of older ones to assist in the service’s expanding global role in safeguarding national security. Last year, the Coast Guard officially welcomed its first polar icebreaker in more than 25 years.
Trump adviser Elon Musk, who leads the new administration’s effort to cut costs across the federal government, did not explicitly confirm the termination of Fagan but wrote on X in response to the news that “undermining the U.S. military and border security to spend money on racist/sexist DEI nonsense is no longer acceptable.”
Fox News was the first to report the news of Fagan’s ouster.
Eleanor Watson
contributed to this report.
