Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, 61, assumed the position of Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard in June of 2022. She was the first woman to head up a branch of the U.S. military.
This isn't unusual for Joe Biden. In his four-year presidency, he appointed more "first this" and "first that" minorities, women, gays, lesbians, transgenders, and Native Americans, than any president in U.S. history. He took the "D" in DEI to a whole new level.
Biden was trying to prove that competence, experience, and talent didn't matter as much as the color of someone's skin, their gender, their gender preference for lovers, their belief in what their gender is, and what their nationality is. Given the overall performance of his administration, it has proved to be the most spectacular failure of the modern presidency.
Adm. Fagan was informed that her services would no longer be required by the U.S. government. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman delivered the coup de grace on Tuesday.
In a statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Fagan was “terminated because of her leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.”
The statement also blamed Fagan for an “ineffective deployment of Coast Guard assets to support national border security, especially in interdicting fentanyl and other illicit substances.” She was also cited for struggles in recruiting and difficulty in acquiring assets like ships, helicopters, and other equipment.
Fagan was also terminated for her DEI efforts.
It also cites her “excessive focus” on “non-mission-critical” diversity efforts and an “erosion of trust” due to her handling of Operation Fouled Anchor, an investigation in which service officials scrutinized numerous allegations of sexual assault but did not disclose them publicly.
The DHS statement is unusual for its breadth and specificity. Typically, when military leaders are fired, the precise reasons are left ambiguous in accordance with policies intended to shield the service or the individual from further scrutiny.
There's been a lot of pushback by Democrats who don't think the firing of Fagan is deserved. "Foul Anchor" occurred before Fagan was appointed commandant, and the report on the scandal was published in 2020.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a critic of Fagan, said, “I’m deeply concerned that this firing raises concerns about how President Trump intends to potentially impose political considerations on personnel issues in the military and potentially purging them based on political fealty or loyalty.”
But the victims of the sexual assault and abuse that occurred in the Coast Guard are glad to see her go.
Christine Dunn, an attorney for some of the victims, said that her clients were “encouraged” to see Trump remove Fagan, whom, she alleged, “has refused to allow full transparency and accountability” in the cases. Dunn said her clients look forward to working with Fagan’s successor to seek justice for the survivors.
It's evident that besides the focus on DEI at the expense of Coast Guard priorities, like most Biden appointees, she was in over her head.
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