
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan delivers remarks during the commissioning ceremony of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Calhoun (WMSL 759), April 20, 2024, in North Charleston, South Carolina. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Hillard)
WASHINGTON — The new administration quickly moved to fire Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan less than a day after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, according to media reports.
Fox News first reported Fagan’s ouster Monday citing an unnamed Homeland Security official who stated the removal was due to border security issues; diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and overall “erosion of trust.” Breaking Defense sought comment from the Coast Guard which deferred to the Department of Homeland Security. A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately return a request for comment.
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman published an ALOCAST, or internal all hands message, today addressing Fagan’s removal and that Vice Chief Adm. Kevin Lunday would become acting commandant in the interim, USNI News reported.
In a December interview with Breaking Defense, Fagan stressed she did not want to implement “an artificial barrier” to serving when asked about rhetoric at that time about banning transgender members of the military.
“There are standards for service in the organization. You need to meet those standards, right?… You [have] got to have a certain level of fitness to graduate from boot camp,” she said at the time. “And bringing anyone who has a propensity to serve that meets those standards makes for a more ready, more resilient workplace and work teams.”
She declined to comment at that time about the impact mass deportations, something the new administration had been threatening, would have on the Coast Guard.
Fagan entered the Coast Guard in 1985. She was nominated and confirmed to become the service’s top officer in June 2022, which made her the first woman to lead a military service.
Prior to Trump returning to the White House, there had been widespread speculation that the new administration was preparing to fire numerous military officers — most notably, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, who as of publication retains his position — but Fagan is ostensibly the first senior officer to be terminated.
The administration announced Monday a slew of civilians taking over in acting positions as service secretaries at the Pentagon.