President Trump Overhauls Department of Homeland Security: Disbands ENTIRE Advisory Committee, citing ‘Misuse of Resources’ — Also Fires Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard Chiefs
President Trump has taken decisive action to reshape the DHS, dismissing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard before their terms were set to expire.
President Donald Trump has taken decisive action to reshape the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), dismissing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Coast Guard before their terms were set to expire.
Additionally, President Trump eliminated all members of a key aviation security advisory group.
Members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee received a memo on Tuesday stating that DHS is eliminating the membership of all advisory committees.
The memo cited a “commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.”
An internal memo dated January 20 from DHS Acting Secretary Benjamin Huffman, first obtained by NPR, underscored the administration’s resolve to overhaul the agency, stating:
“In alignment with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security, I am directing the termination of all current memberships on advisory committees within DHS, effective immediately.
Future committee activities will be focused solely on advancing our critical mission to protect the homeland and support DHS’s strategic priorities. To outgoing advisory board members, you are welcome to reapply, thank you for your service.”
This sweeping action includes the dismissal of two key officials: David Pekoske, the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and Admiral Linda Fagan, the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.
David Pekoske was initially appointed as TSA Administrator by President Trump in 2017 and reappointed by President Joe Biden in 2022 for a second five-year term, confirmed by the Senate with a 77-18 vote.
Despite his term not expiring until 2027, Pekoske was removed from his position on Monday, by President Trump. No specific reasons were provided for his dismissal.
Admiral Linda Fagan made history as the first female leader of a U.S. armed service branch when she became the Coast Guard Commandant in June 2022.
She was relieved of her duties on Tuesday, by Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman.
Reports indicate that her termination was due to concerns over recruitment challenges, mismanagement in acquisitions, and an excessive focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, according to the New York Post.
DEI-focused Coast Guard Commandant Linda Lee Fagan fired over ‘erosion of trust’
A senior official at the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Fagan, 61, had failed to meet benchmarks for new enlistees or reservists and mishandled an internal probe of sex assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
Congressional Republicans had accused Fagan of impeding military readiness, noting that the low recruitment rate had forced some ships to be decommissioned.
“Also contributing to lower retention and recruitment is indoctrination training,” wrote Reps. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in an August 2024 letter to then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“We have heard from service members concerned with trainings and events they believe to be extraneous to mission-critical tasks, specifically Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) inclusivity training programs, including … examples of official USCG announcements encouraging service member participation in Transgender Shipmates Inclusion Training,” they added.
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