The Trump administration has fired U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, the first female uniformed leader of an armed forces branch, a U.S. official told Reuters Tuesday.
CNN, citing an unnamed official, also confirmed the firing. That source cited her "failure to address border security threats" and "excessive focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies" as key underlying reasons.
The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the report. Fagan could not be immediately reached.
The Coast Guard sent a message to its members confirming that Fagan had been removed.
While the Coast Guard is an armed service, it falls under the Department of Homeland Security, not the Pentagon.
Democrat Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington state said the decision to remove Fagan was "misguided and will hurt readiness."
"The women and men of the U.S. Coast Guard deserve better than reckless personnel decisions," Larsen said.
The Coast Guard has been under scrutiny for sexual assault since a media report alleged it covered up decades of abuse and a Senate subcommittee found it shamed victims and failed to deal with perpetrators.
More than a dozen former U.S. Coast Guard Academy students who say they were victims of sexual assault filed complaints last year seeking $130 million in damages, accusing the school of allowing sexual violence to go unchecked.
Trump adviser Elon Musk, who leads the new administration's effort to cut costs across the federal government, alluded to efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in a social media post, but did not explicitly confirm Fagan's termination.
"Undermining the U.S. military and border security to spend money on racist/sexist DEI nonsense is no longer acceptable," Musk, the world's richest man, wrote on X.
Trump has vowed to eliminate DEI programs in federal government agencies.
Fox News, which was first to report the firing, cited an unidentified senior Department of Homeland Security official as saying Fagan had been fired over concerns about the border, recruitment and "erosion of trust."
Former President Joe Biden nominated Fagan to lead the Coast Guard in 2021. She became the first female uniformed leader of a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
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