WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's administration evicted former Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan from her home with three hours of notice on Tuesday — not even enough time to gather her personal effects — according to two people familiar with the incident.
Fagan, a four-star admiral and the first woman to lead a branch of the military, was removed from her post as the Coast Guard’s top officer on Trump’s second day in office. Officials at the Homeland Security Department — which oversees the Coast Guard — cited border security issues and an “excessive focus” on diversity, equity and inclusion among the reasons for her dismissal.
Fagan, who was named commandant in 2022, made a convenient target for a new president who wanted to flex his muscle. The process for firing her was less complex than for dismissing chiefs of the four main branches of the military. More than that, the move allowed him to send signals about his anti-DEI agenda and desire to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and goods into the United States.
Throwing her out of her house on short notice went a step further.
"It's petty and it's personal," one Fagan ally said.
But a DHS official countered that it made sense for her to be moved out of the home at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling.
"She was terminated with cause two weeks ago today and she was still living in those admiral quarters," the official said, confirming that Fagan had been told to leave. The official said they could not confirm or deny the three-hour timeline.
NBC News reached out to the White House and the Coast Guard for comment.
Coast Guard leaders had given Fagan a 60-day waiver to find new housing, according to one of the sources. But on Tuesday, Homeland Security officials told the acting commandant, Kevin Lunday, that he had to kick her out because "the president wants her out of quarters," according to one of the people familiar with the incident.
The DHS official was not able to immediately ascertain whether the directive had in fact come from Trump or whether his name had been invoked without his knowledge.
Lunday then informed Fagan, at 2 p.m. Tuesday, that she had three hours to get out. Shortly after that, her team received a call from aides to Sean Plankey, a DHS senior adviser and retired Coast Guard officer, instructing her to leave the house unlocked so that the interior could be photographed, according to one of the sources.
“It’s a really strange power play,” the Fagan ally said.
Fagan pushed back on DHS officials taking pictures of the inside of the home.
"I do not authorize them to come into my house, whether I'm there or not," she told another Coast Guard official. Lunday relayed that back to Plankey's team, noting that an attempt to access the house would amount to trespassing, according to one of the sources. But Fagan did depart.
She left the house “with many — maybe all — of her personal items and household goods still there,” said a former U.S. military official. She spent the night with friends.
United States Transportation Command is now responsible for moving her personal effects out of the house.
"She was given a different place to stay," the DHS official said. "We’re still providing her housing."
The official was not able to say what form of housing, and the Fagan ally said that an alternative was not offered to her as part of the discussion of her vacating the premises.
