Sen. Ted Cruz Forces President Joe Biden to Withdraw Senate Nominations of 80 Senior Coast Guard Officers Up for Promotion to Captain (O-6) as Operation Fouled Anchor Scandal Intensifies

Cruz v. Fagan

New York, NY

By: MLAA

Following a scathing letter sent to embattled Coast Guard leader Linda Fagan by Senator Ted Cruz regarding Cruz’s ongoing investigation into the Operation Fouled Anchor coverups, President Biden has withdrawn his nominations of 80 senior Coast Guard leaders from the Senate confirmation process. President Biden nominated the 80 Coast Guard officers about 5 months ago on November 1, 2023.

President Biden’s notice of withdrawal, which was posted to the Congressional Record, reads:

WITHDRAWALS

Executive Message transmitted by the President to the Senate on April 8, 2024 withdrawing from further Senate consideration the following nominations:

COAST GUARD NOMINATIONS BEGINNING WITH JENNIFER J. ANDREW AND ENDING WITH CHRISTOPHER J. YOUNG, WHICH NOMINATIONS WERE SENT TO THE SENATE ON NOVEMBER 1, 2023.

Senator Cruz Frustrated with Lack of Cooperation & Transparency

In his April 8, 2024 letter to Admiral Linda Fagan, Senator Cruz expressed deep frustration with the lack of cooperation he has been receiving from senior Coast Guard leaders during the ongoing Senate confirmation process, which began in November of 2023 when President Biden sent the list of 80 O-6 nominations to the Senate for confirmation.

In his letter to Fagan Cruz wrote:

Since last year, the Committee has been reviewing Operation Fouled Anchor and the Coast Guard’s lack of transparency…However, this review has uncovered several ways in which the Coast Guard impeded congressional oversight.

For example, as part of this review, the Committee interviewed several Coast Guard personnel in furtherance of its constitutionally mandated duty to provide advice and consent on those Guardsmen’s promotions. The Coast Guard resisted allowing interviews of attorneys involved with Operation Fouled Anchor investigations on the grounds of privilege. Meanwhile, in their Committee questionnaires, Coast Guard personnel seeking the Senate’s confirmation of their promotion to the level of Rear Admiral (lower half) and above provided only a conditional commitment to be honest and transparent with Congress:

QUESTION: “Do you agree, if confirmed, to keep this Committee . . . apprised of new information that materially impacts the accuracy of testimony, briefings, reports, [or] records . . . you or your organization previously provided?”

ANSWER: “Yes, in accordance with law and DHS policy and guidance.”

When asked why they could not answer with a simple “Yes.”—as they had in the preceding four questions—the Coast Guardsmen said the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of General Counsel directed them to provide that response. None were able to identify a DHS policy or guidance that supersedes federal laws requiring honest testimony before Congress.

Ted Cruz Demands Answers

Senator Cruz also demanded answers from Admiral Fagan in his letter. In his April 8, 2024 letter to Fagan Cruz wrote:

Regarding questions five and six of Part D of the Committee’s questionnaire for nominees for Senate confirmation:

a. Describe the origin of the response nominees provided: “Yes, in accordance with law and DHS policy and guidance,” including the reference to DHS policies and guidance. In your description, please include who gave that directive, when they gave that directive, and who was involved in the decision to give that directive.

b. What policies, guidance, or laws do you believe could ever limit a federal employee’s or service member’s ability to “keep this Committee, its subcommittees, other appropriate Committees of Congress, and their respective staffs apprised of new information that materially impacts the accuracy of testimony, briefings, reports, records—including documents and electronic communications, and other information—[the nominee] or [the Coast Guard] previously provided”? Include specific citations and copies if any applicable policies or guidance documents are not publicly available.

Biden Acts Fast to Withdraw Nominations

Following the release of Senator Cruz’s letter to Fagan on April 8, 2024, President Biden took swift action to withdraw 80 senior Coast Guard officers from the Senate confirmation process. It is not clear why the President took this action, but one possibility is that President Biden is seeking to shield the 80 Coast Guard officers from scrutiny by the Senate Commerce Committee and Senator Ted Cruz. 2024 is a Presidential election year, and Biden may sense the Fouled Anchor scandal could become politicized and used against him by Cruz and other Republicans.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have already opened their own Fouled Anchor investigation, although nothing has yet emerged into the public regarding that ongoing investigation.

Whatever the reasons and calculations for the withdraw of the 80 nominations, it is not a good sign for Linda Fagan or the leadership of the U.S. Coast Guard, and is evidence that we are still in the early days of the fallout from Fouled Anchor.

The list of those Coast Guard officers whose names were withdrawn are below.

WITHDRAWALS

To be Captain (O-6)

JENNIFER J. ANDREW
MATTHEW S. AUSTIN
MICHAEL W. BAIRD
PATRICIA M. BENNETT
TORREY H. BERTHEAU
BRIAN R. BETZ
MICHAEL D. BRIMBLECOM
MARY D. BROOKS
KEVIN A. BROYLES
BRADLEY A. BRUNAUGH
KENNETH J. BURGESS
JASON A. BUSTAMENTE
JOEL B. CARSE
AARON J. CASAVANT
ERIC W. CHANG
BRADLEY D. CONWAY
JEREMY A. COURTADE
ALLISON B. COX
JONATHAN W. COX
BYRON A. CREECH
MICHAEL R. DARRAH
JESSICA S. DAVILA
ARTHUR M. DEHNZ
PHILLIP A. DELISLE
JARROD M. DEWITZ
JENNIFER R. DOHERTY
PATRICK A. DRAYER
LAUREN F. DUFRENE
STANLEY P. FIELDS
JASON S. FRANZ
MATTHEW A. GANS
LISA L. GARCEZ
CHRISTJAN C. GAUDIO
SARAH J. GEOFFRION
JASON D. HAGEN
JUAN M. HERNANDEZ
MICHAEL J. HUNT
RAYMOND D. JACKSON, JR.
KEVIN L. KAMMETER
LUANN J. KEHLENBACH
MARGARET D. KENNEDY
COREY M. KERNS
MATTHEW R. KOLODICA
RICHARD E. KUZAK
AMANDA M. LEE
CLAY D. MCKINNEY
JESSE M. MILLARD
BORIS MONTATSKY
SAMUEL R. NASSAR
ERIC G. PARA
CHRISTOPHER R. PARRISH
LUKE R. PETERSEN
JEFFREY R. PLATT
JASON T. PLUMLEY
BEAU G. POWERS
RANDY L. PRESTON
MILES R. RANDALL, JR.
KENT R. REINHOLD
KENNETH H. ROCKHOLD
THOMAS C. RODZEWICZ
ELIZABETH M. ROSCOE
JENNIFER M. RUNION
STACI K. RUTSCH
BRENT R. SCHMADEKE
JONATHAN D. SHUMATE
DANIELLE M. SHUPE
LUKE M. SLIVINSKI
BENJAMIN J. SPECTOR
ROBERT E. STILES
STEVEN D. STOWERS
KEITH O. THOMAS
JAROD S. TOCZKO
JORGE L. VALENTE
ALLISON M. WALLACE
MATTHEW J. WALTER
REBECCA A. WALTHOUR
RYAN A. WATERS
MATTHEW G. WEBER
CHARLES K. WILSON
CHRISTOPHER J. YOUNG