DEI-obsessed US Coast Guard chief dumped by Trump
The Trump administration has fired US Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday.
Former President Joe Biden nominated Fagan to lead the coast guard, which is responsible for maritime security, in 2021. She became the first female uniformed leader of a branch of the US Armed Forces.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Huffman, in a message posted on the Coast Guard's website, confirmed Fagan had been relieved of her duties after a "long and illustrious career."
Huffman had terminated Fagan from her position because of, "leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the US Coast Guard," a senior Department of Homeland Security official said.
One of the reasons, the official said while speaking on the condition of anonymity, was Fagan's "excessive" focus on racist, divisive and unpopular diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Fagan and the coast guard could not be immediately reached for comment.
Trump has vowed to eliminate DEI programs in federal government agencies in line with popular sentiment.
While the coast guard is an armed service, it falls under the Department of Homeland Security, not the Pentagon.
Democratic Congressman Rick Larsen said the decision to remove Fagan was "misguided and will hurt readiness."
"The women and men of the US Coast Guard deserve better than reckless personnel decisions," Larsen said.
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 social media.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart,Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Chizu Nomiyama, Peter Graff, Rod Nickel and Deepa Babington)
