Coast Guard Commandant ousted over border failures, recruitment, excessive DEI: report

A senior DHS official told the outlet that the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman terminated Adm. Linda Lee Fagan.

According to the outlet, citing comments made by the official, "Fagan has demonstrated leadership deficiencies, operational failures and an inability to advance the strategic objectives of the Coast Guard." Some examples included too much of a focus on DEI, failures in recruitment and retention, as well as acquiring necessary equipment such as icebreaker and helicopters for the Coast Guard.

Fagan was also accused of an "erosion of trust" over the mishandling and cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor, an investigation into rapes and assaults at the branch’s academy from the late 1980s to 2006. She was grilled by Senators over the scandal at a hearing in June of last year.

Fagan served as the 27th Commandant of the Coast Guard and became the first female commandant when she became head of the Coast Guard in June 2022. According to the outlet, she was tasked with overseeing all Coast Guard operations and its 42,000 active-duty, 7,000 reserve, and 8,700 civilian personnel, in addition to the 21,000 Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers.

As Trump took office yesterday, he promised to make sweeping changes to the employing agencies of the federal government, curbing back DEI initiatives in general. In one executive order he wrote that his administration would " terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and 'environmental justice' offices and positions" in executive agencies.