President Donald Trump has formally nominated Adm. Kevin Lunday to fill the Coast Guard commandant role in a permanent capacity, according to a congressional notice.
The notice, which was sent to the Senate on Thursday and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, comes after Lunday has been serving as acting commandant since his predecessor, Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, was abruptly fired in January.
Lunday, 60, joined the Coast Guard in 1987 and previously served as vice commandant under Fagan from June 2024 until filling the acting commandant opening.
In May, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signaled Lunday’s nomination to the service’s top leadership post during a U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduation ceremony in Connecticut.
“Now is the time for fundamental change,” Lunday said in his speech at the ceremony. “And we will become a stronger, more capable, and more agile force to meet the challenges ahead.”
Lunday has directed operations in the Atlantic area and the Indo-Pacific and is experienced in cyberspace operations, according to his Coast Guard biography.
“He also directed remote and deployable cyberspace operations to protect U.S. maritime critical infrastructure from cyberattack,” Lunday’s biography reads. “Prior to this role he served as Director of Exercises and Training (J7), U.S. Cyber Command where he directed the joint training and certification of the DoD Cyber Mission Force, the nation’s cyberspace warriors.”
He is a graduate of the National War College, George Washington University Law School and the Coast Guard Academy, according to his biography.
Fagan’s firing in January was part of numerous leadership turnovers in the days following Trump’s second inauguration. Officials said her termination was a result of failure to properly address border security threats, poor responses to cases of sexual assault in the Coast Guard Academy and giving DEI policies too much priority.
The dismissal angered Democrats who believed the firing set a bad precedent.
“The complexity of the Coast Guard’s diverse missions require continuity to protect lives and American interests,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in a press release at the time.
Fagan was the first woman to lead a military branch after her installment in June 2022.
Lunday’s Senate confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.
Cristina Stassis is an editorial fellow for Defense News and Military Times, where she covers stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She is currently studying journalism and mass communication and international affairs at the George Washington University.
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