The effort by Mississippi’s 4th District Congressman got a boost Thursday when both Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem backed the move.

Mississippi Congressman Mike Ezell (R) is helping lead the charge in the U.S. House of Representatives to create a Secretary of the Coast Guard, the only branch of the U.S. military without a civilian Service Secretary at the helm.

With its nearly 43,000 active-duty personnel, the Coast Guard is also the only branch that is not under the Department of Defense, now known as the Department of War under the Trump Administration. The branch currently falls under Homeland Security. That, too, could change.

Ezell, who represents South Mississippi’s 4th District, is the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee

See Full Page