The first female head of a military department—Linda Fagan—was fired and evicted recently by the Trump administration . While this may not be the flashiest headline compared to other recent policies made by Trump, it has grave consequences for feminism and diversity. Fagan was the former head of the Coast Guard and the only woman in U.S. history to serve as the head of a branch of the military. Not only that, but she was the first woman in the service to be promoted to four stars. USNI News states that she was nominated and sworn into office by the Biden administration.
According to CBS News, Fagan was fired for a number of reasons, such as a lack of border security and recruitment numbers, an excessive focus on diversity and the mishandling of Operation Fouled Anchor, a scandal that took place in which authorities in the Coast Guard withheld reports of harrassment and even rape from Congress and the general public. In regards to border security, however, it is worth mentioning that CBS states that Fagan and most of her recent predecessors had been asking for more funding which they were all denied, so it is quite possible that budgeting is one of the reasons for supposed shortcomings rather than Fagan. Additionally, under Fagan, the Coast Guard was finally able to meet their recruitment goals which they had not done since 2007.
Operation Fouled Anchor has been considered to be the most valid reason that the administration has for firing Fagan. According to CNN, the scandal was mostly attributed to Fagan’s predecessor, Karl Schultz, while Fagan served as commandant under him. Although mostly attributed to her predecessor, if Fagan was involved in the scandal, it would certainly make for moral justification for her firing. However, one might doubt Trump’s sincerity in citing Operation Fouled Anchor as the reason for why she was fired. First of all, it is no secret that harassment and rape is a prevelant issue throughout the U.S. military, not just the Coast Guard, so why should firing Fagan be the only step that Trump takes to deal with this issue? Additionally, it is hard to believe that Trump cares so much about issues of rape and harrassment given his history of multiple alleged sexual harrassment and misconduct which are listed in an article by ABC. It seems that the reason for Fagan’s firing boils down to issues of diversity and inclusion. Trump has been looking to put an end to many diversity and inclusion campaigns which were put in place in attempts to end systematic racism and sexism. Additionally, if Trump has an issue with diversity and inclusion then there is the possibility that he does not support women in high power positions like Linda Fagan. Altogether, Fagan’s firing is very concerning from a feminist standpoint due to how little women have been recognized in the military.
Not only was she fired, but according to NBC, Fagan was evicted from her house with only three hours notice. Fagan was living in the U.S. admiral quarters reserved for the head of the Coast Guard. The process of buying and moving into a house is a lengthy process that Fagan was certainly not prepared for, and she had only been fired for two weeks when she was evicted in three hours notice. Evicting an official so disgracefully is not only unprofessional but morally abominable. Even if there were plenty of justification for her removal, her position should at least allow her the dignity of a little more notice.
The way in which Fagan was fired and evicted reveals Trump’s contempt and disregard for her. Maybe Trump holds this contempt because she is unable to advance his agenda. Maybe it is because she is a woman. Either way, it should be concerning to those advocating for equal opportunities that a trailblazing woman in the military was fired and evicted so unceremoniously.
