Connecticut lawmakers raised concerns Tuesday over the Trump administration’s abrupt firing of Admiral Linda Fagan, who served as the first female commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and had more recently overseen the response to Operation Fouled Anchor.
A senior official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Coast Guard, confirmed Fagan was terminated, pointing to “leadership deficiencies, operational failures and inability to advance the strategic objectives” of the service.
The official cited several reasons for her departure: “ineffective” deployment of the Coast Guard to assist with border security, dissatisfaction with recruitment and retention, efforts surrounding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies and delays and cost overruns on icebreakers and helicopters used in the Arctic region.
Among those concerns was also the handling of Operation Fouled Anchor, a years-long investigation into decades of sexual misconduct claims at the Coast Guard Academy in New London and past leaders’ decision not to disclose a report about it to Congress. Fagan did not serve as commandant during that period but has testified about it twice. She apologized for inaction and lack of disclosure until CNN broke the story in 2023.
Fagan was appointed commandant in the summer of 2022, taking over from her predecessor, Karl Schultz, who retired after serving at the helm in both the Trump and Biden administrations. Fagan became the first woman to lead a U.S. military branch.
Admiral Kevin Lunday, who had been serving as vice commandant since last June, will now serve as acting commandant of the Coast Guard.
Fagan’s removal was the first of the Trump administration and occurred the first full day into his presidency. It received immediate pushback from some Democrats in Connecticut, including those who have scrutinized her over transparency and accountability related to Operation Fouled Anchor.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, called the news of her termination an overreach by Trump. The congressman, whose district includes the Coast Guard Academy, pushed back on DHS’ assessment of Fagan’s tenure and cited her work on surpassing the service’s 2024 recruitment goal and working on production of new icebreaker vessels.
Courtney pointed to a news release from the Coast Guard last September when it announced that the military branch met its recruitment goals for the first time since 2017 and recruited more than 4,400 enlisted active duty personnel.
“President Trump’s unprecedented decision on day one to fire a service chief ahead of her scheduled departure is an abuse of power that slanders the good name and record of Admiral Fagan,” he said in a statement. “The Commandant’s outstanding record completely negates the President’s demonstrably false claims and signals his interest to put politics over the best interest of our service members and national security.”
Courtney also commended Fagan’s leadership since the public became aware of Operation Fouled Anchor, saying she has worked to “rebuild trust.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who has overseen one of the congressional investigations into Operation Fouled Anchor, has been critical of how the Coast Guard and Fagan have cooperated with lawmakers in providing documents and information. Blumenthal has condemned the service for having a “culture of cover-up.”
But Blumenthal also criticized the firing of Fagan and pointed to her years of service. Prior to her appointment to commandant, Fagan served in several other leadership roles, including as vice commandant and commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area.
“I’ve been critical of Adm. Fagan concerning the Coast Guard’s response to problems of sexual assault and harassment in the aftermath of a cover-up executed by her Trump-appointed predecessor,” he said in an interview, referring to Schultz. “But this abrupt firing certainly raises concerns about how Donald Trump intends to treat dedicated, professional men and women who have faithfully served our country for decades.”
With Republicans in the Senate majority, Blumenthal is now the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. But he anticipates a continued bipartisan approach into getting more answers and accountability regarding Fouled Anchor.
Fagan first testified before the Senate Commerce Committee a month after the public became aware of the investigation through a CNN report in summer 2023. She testified again a year later before Blumenthal’s panel, where the senator argued that the Coast Guard still faces a “present, ongoing and persistent” issue with sexual misconduct.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal hosts a field hearing in New London with current and former Coast Guard personnel. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror
Past and present Coast Guard cadets and personnel who are survivors of sexual assault and harassment have also appeared before Congress to tell their stories and urge the service to adopt more policies to protect them and hold leadership accountable.
Schultz served as head of the Coast Guard from 2018 to 2022, during which time Fouled Anchor was underway and concluded. Fagan took the helm in June 2022. She previously told Congress she knew of the investigation generally but became aware of the “totality” of the investigation only when CNN started asking questions.
She has also testified that she first learned of Fouled Anchor in the fall of 2018 when senior leaders were briefed. She said she was aware of the investigation in “general terms” at that time but testified she did not know the “full extent” of the number of victims until the summer of 2023.
During past congressional hearings, Fagan touted the work the Coast Guard has done to improve the culture and implement additional policies to better protect cadets and service members. One of those included a safe-to-report policy for victims who fear punishment for minor, unrelated infractions while reporting sexual misconduct allegations.
While Fagan will no longer be in a leadership position, the panel could still choose to have her testify either voluntarily or through a subpoena. But Blumenthal said he would not speculate on how the subcommittee would proceed in its investigation.
“We haven’t decided yet whether we would want to have her as a witness again,” he said.
