Trump fires TSA and Coast Guard chiefs, eliminates key aviation security committee

President Donald Trump On Tuesday, he quickly overhauled the Department of Homeland Security, firing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard before the end of their terms and eliminating all members of a key aviation security advisory group.

Trump’s immigration policy changes has attracted the most attention at DHS, but it also brings changes to the rest of the massive agency.

Members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee received a memo Tuesday saying the department is eliminating membership from all advisory committees as part of a “commitment to eliminating misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.”

The Air Safety Committee, mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, will technically continue to exist, but it will have no members to carry out the work of examination of security issues in airlines and airports. Before Tuesday, the group included representatives from all key industry groups – including airlines and major unions – as well as members of a group associated with victims of the PanAm 103 bombing The vast majority of the group’s recommendations have been adopted over the years.

It was not immediately clear how many other committees had actually been eliminated Tuesday or whether other departments would take similar steps. A similar safety group advises the Federal Railroad Administration on new rules and safety issues in this industry.

“I naively thought, ‘oh, they’re not going to do anything in the new administration that would put safety at risk – aviation safety at risk.’ But I’m not so sure,” said Stephanie Bernstein, whose husband was killed in the bombing and served on the committee.

The future of the committee remains uncertain as DHS officials did not respond to questions about the decision Tuesday. The memo announcing the layoffs said the committee’s future activities would be focused on “advancing our critical mission of protecting the homeland and supporting DHS’s strategic priorities,” but the group has no members.

Adding to Bernstein’s concern is the fact that TSA Administrator David Pekoske was fired even though he was originally appointed by Trump during his first term and was in the middle of what was supposed to be Pekoske’s second five-year term in the position following his reappointment. by Biden and confirmed by the Senate.

No reason was given for Pekoske’s departure. But in an unrelated press release Tuesday about restarting a program, often called “Remain in Mexico,” DHS highlighted Pekoske’s role in trying to end that policy at a time when he was secretary by interim at the start of Biden’s term. administration. Pekoske held the position on an interim basis previously Alexander Mayorkas was confirmed by the Senate.

In his letter to staff, Pekoske called his work “the honor of his life.”

During Pekoske’s tenure, he oversaw a rapid increase in the use of facial recognition technology at airports across the country, which concerned privacy advocates. During his tenure, front-line TSA officers also received substantial pay increases intended to bring them in line with other federal law enforcement officers, which Pekoske credits with helping them recruit and retention in position.

But one recent channel The number of stowaways discovered on board flights and hidden in plane wheel wells has renewed questions about aviation security.

The shooting of Coast Guard Commander, Adm. Linda Fagan eliminated the first female head of the armed forces in office since 2022. The move was met with shock from some Democratic members of Congress. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, credited Fagan with her commitment to addressing a decades-long culture of sexual assault within the Coast Guard and from the prestigious Connecticut Service Academy. .

Cantwell said in a Tuesday interview on CNN that Fagan’s firing was “appalling.”

Under Fagan’s leadership, the U.S. Coast Guard apologized in 2023 for failing to take “appropriate action” years ago when it failed to adequately handle cases of sexual assault and harassment at the academy. The department also acknowledged that it failed to widely disclose its six-year internal investigation into dozens of cases from 1988 to 2006, known as Operation Fouled Anchor.

Last year, however, Fagan received bipartisan criticism for not being cooperative enough in congressional investigations into abuses. At a hearing, she tried to assure skeptical and frustrated senators that she was not trying to cover up the branch’s activities. inability to adequately process files of sexual assault and harassment at the academy and said she was committed to “transparency and accountability” within the Coast Guard while respecting the constraints of an ongoing government oversight investigation and concerns in matter of victim confidentiality.

representative Joe CourtneyD-Conn., whose district includes the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., said Fagan brought “a fundamental change in the direction of the Coast Guard” and worked to restore trust and address ongoing sexual misconduct issues facing the department.

“President Trump’s unprecedented decision, on day one, to fire a service chief before his planned departure is an abuse of power that maligns Admiral Fagan’s reputation and record,” Courtney said in a statement.

Courtney noted that, under Fagan’s leadership, the Coast Guard exceeds its 2024 recruitment objective for the first time since 2017, forbidden more than $2.5 billion in illegal drugs from bad actors in 2024 and have demonstrated an aggressive commitment to countering adversaries in the Arctic by defending the ICE Pact to speed up production of new icebreakers, which the United States has not built in almost 50 years.

“The commander’s exceptional record completely negates the president’s blatantly false claims. complaints and signals his enduring interest in putting politics ahead of the best interests of our military and national security.

In addition to the layoffs, Trump will also name a new administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he has harshly criticized for how it responded to disasters like Hurricane Helene last fall and the wildfires forest in California. It is customary for the head of this agency to be replaced each time a new president takes office.

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Associated Press writers Susan Haigh and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.