II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1190
To establish a Secretary of the Coast Guard, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH27, 2025
Mr. S
COTTof Florida (for himself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To establish a Secretary of the Coast Guard, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coast Guard Improve-4
ment Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE COAST GUARD. 6
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.— 7
(1) H
OMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002 .—The 8
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et 9
seq.) is amended— 10
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(A) in section 103 (6 U.S.C. 113)— 1
(i) by redesignating subsections (c) 2
through (g) as subsections (d) through (h), 3
respectively; 4
(ii) by inserting after subsection (b) 5
the following: 6
‘‘(c) S
ECRETARY OF THECOASTGUARD.— 7
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—There is a Secretary of the 8
Coast Guard, appointed by the President, by and 9
with the advice and consent of the Senate. 10
‘‘(2) G
ENERAL POWERS .—Subject to the au-11
thority, direction, and control of the Secretary, when 12
the Coast Guard is operating as a service in the De-13
partment, the Secretary of the Coast Guard shall ex-14
ercise the powers of the Secretary under section 15
501(a) of title 14, United States Code, and other 16
duties as may be prescribed by law or by the Presi-17
dent or the Secretary, in directing the Coast Guard. 18
‘‘(3) D
IRECT REPORTING TO SECRETARY .—At 19
all times, the Secretary of the Coast Guard shall re-20
port directly to the Secretary without intervening 21
authority. 22
‘‘(4) C
ONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY OF THE 23
NAVY.—When the Coast Guard is operating as a 24
service in the Navy, the Secretary of the Coast 25
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Guard may advise the Secretary of the Navy on 1
matters relating to the Coast Guard. 2
‘‘(5) L
IMITATION ON APPOINTMENT .—No offi-3
cer serving in an appointment under subsection (a) 4
may be appointed to carry out the duties of Sec-5
retary of the Coast Guard.’’; and 6
(iii) by amending subsection (d), as 7
redesignated, to read as follows: 8
‘‘(d) C
OMMANDANT OF THE COASTGUARD.—To as-9
sist the Secretary of the Coast Guard in the performance 10
of the functions of the Secretary of the Coast Guard, there 11
is a Commandant of the Coast Guard, who shall be ap-12
pointed as provided in section 302 of title 14, United 13
States Code, and who shall report directly to the Secretary 14
of the Coast Guard. In addition to such duties as may 15
be provided in this Act and as assigned to the Com-16
mandant by the Secretary of the Coast Guard, the duties 17
of the Commandant shall include those required by section 18
102 of title 14, United States Code.’’; and 19
(B) in section 888(f) (6 U.S.C. 468(f))— 20
(i) by striking ‘‘Upon the transfer’’ 21
and inserting the following: 22
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Upon the transfer’’; 23
(ii) in paragraph (1), as so des-24
ignated, by striking ‘‘the Secretary’’ and 25
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inserting ‘‘the Secretary of the Coast 1
Guard’’; and 2
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-3
lowing: 4
‘‘(2) E
XCEPTION.—When the Coast Guard is 5
operating as a service in the Navy, the Commandant 6
shall report directly to the Secretary of the Navy.’’. 7
(2) T
ITLE 10, UNITED STATES CODE .—Title 10 8
of the United States Code, is amended— 9
(A) in section 101(a)(9)(D), by striking 10
‘‘the Secretary of Homeland Security’’ and in-11
serting ‘‘the Secretary of the Coast Guard’’; 12
and 13
(B) in section 8013a— 14
(i) by striking ‘‘section 3 of title 14’’ 15
and inserting ‘‘section 103 of title 14’’; 16
and 17
(ii) by striking ‘‘the Secretary of 18
Homeland Security’’ and inserting ‘‘the 19
Secretary of the Coast Guard’’. 20
(3) T
ITLE 14, UNITED STATES CODE .—Title 14 21
of the United States Code, is amended— 22
(A) in section 501— 23
(i) by redesignating subsections (a) 24
through (h) as paragraphs (1) through (8), 25
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respectively, and moving such paragraphs 1
two ems to the right; 2
(ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 3
(1), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘For’’ and 4
inserting the following: 5
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—For’’; and 6
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-7
lowing: 8
‘‘(b) S
ECRETARY OF THECOASTGUARD.— 9
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—There is a Secretary of the 10
Coast Guard, appointed from civilian life by the 11
President, by and with the advice and consent of the 12
Senate. The Secretary of the Coast Guard shall, to 13
the greatest extent practicable, be appointed from 14
among individuals most highly qualified for the posi-15
tion by reason of background and experience, includ-16
ing individuals with appropriate management or 17
leadership experience. The Secretary of the Coast 18
Guard is the head of the Coast Guard. 19
‘‘(2) L
IMITATION ON APPOINTMENT .—An indi-20
vidual may not be appointed as the Secretary of the 21
Coast Guard during the 5-year period beginning on 22
the date on which the individual is relieved from ac-23
tive duty (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10) 24
as a commissioned officer of a regular component of 25
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any of the Armed Forces (as defined in section 1
101(a) of title 10). 2
‘‘(3) F
UNCTIONS.— 3
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to the author-4
ity, direction, and control of the Secretary of 5
Homeland Security and subject to the other 6
provisions of this title, Secretary of the Coast 7
Guard is responsible for, and has the authority 8
necessary to conduct, all affairs of the Coast 9
Guard, including the following functions: 10
‘‘(i) Recruiting. 11
‘‘(ii) Organizing. 12
‘‘(iii) Supplying. 13
‘‘(iv) Equipping, including research 14
and development. 15
‘‘(v) Training. 16
‘‘(vi) Servicing. 17
‘‘(vii) Mobilizing. 18
‘‘(viii) Demobilizing. 19
‘‘(ix) Administering, including the mo-20
rale and welfare of personnel. 21
‘‘(x) Maintaining. 22
‘‘(xi) The construction, outfitting, and 23
repair of military equipment. 24
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‘‘(xii) The construction, maintenance, 1
and repair of buildings, structures, and 2
utilities and the acquisition of real prop-3
erty and interests in real property nec-4
essary to carry out the responsibilities 5
specified in this section. 6
‘‘(B) A
DDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES .— 7
Subject to the authority, direction, and control 8
of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Sec-9
retary of the Coast Guard is also responsible to 10
the Secretary of Homeland Security for— 11
‘‘(i) the functioning and efficiency of 12
the Coast Guard; 13
‘‘(ii) the formulation of policies and 14
programs of the Coast Guard that are fully 15
consistent with national security objectives 16
and policies established by the President or 17
the Secretary of Homeland Security; 18
‘‘(iii) the effective and timely imple-19
mentation of policy, program, and budget 20
decisions and instructions of the President 21
or the Secretary of Homeland Security re-22
lating to the functions of the Coast Guard; 23
and 24
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‘‘(iv) carrying out the functions of the 1
Coast Guard so as to fulfill the current 2
and future operational requirements; 3
‘‘(v) effective cooperation and coordi-4
nation between the Coast Guard and the 5
other military departments (as defined in 6
section 101(a) of title 10) and agencies of 7
the Department of Defense and the De-8
partment of Homeland Security to provide 9
for more effective, efficient, and economical 10
administration and to eliminate duplica-11
tion; 12
‘‘(vi) the presentation and justification 13
of the positions of the Coast Guard on the 14
plans, programs, and policies of the De-15
partment of Homeland Security; and 16
‘‘(vii) the effective supervision and 17
control of the intelligence activities of the 18
Coast Guard. 19
‘‘(C) A
DDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Sec-20
retary of the Coast Guard is also responsible 21
for such other activities as may be prescribed 22
by law or by the President or Secretary of 23
Homeland Security. 24
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‘‘(4) RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS .—After 1
first informing the Secretary of Homeland Security, 2
the Secretary of the Coast Guard may make such 3
recommendations to Congress relating to the De-4
partment of Homeland Security as the Secretary of 5
the Coast Guard considers appropriate. 6
‘‘(5) D
ELEGATION.—The Secretary of the Coast 7
Guard may assign the functions, powers, and duties 8
of the Secretary of the Coast Guard, as the Sec-9
retary of the Coast Guard considers appropriate, to 10
any Under Secretary or Assistant Secretary that has 11
been established and has the advice and consent of 12
the Senate. 13
‘‘(6) A
DDITIONAL POWERS .—The Secretary of 14
the Coast Guard may— 15
‘‘(A) assign, detail, and prescribe the du-16
ties of members of the Coast Guard and civilian 17
personnel of the Coast Guard; 18
‘‘(B) change the title of any officer or ac-19
tivity of the Coast Guard not prescribed by law; 20
and 21
‘‘(C) prescribe regulations to carry out his 22
functions, powers, and duties under this title.’’; 23
and 24
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(B) by amending section 505 to read as 1
follows: 2
‘‘§ 505. Functions and powers vested in the Com-3
mandant 4
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—The function of the Com-5
mandant is to assist the Secretary of the Coast Guard in 6
carrying out the responsibilities of the Coast Guard. Ex-7
cept as otherwise specifically prescribed by law, the Com-8
mandant shall perform such duties and have such titles, 9
as the Secretary of the department in which the Coast 10
Guard is operating may prescribe. 11
‘‘(b) D
UTIES.—Under the authority, direction, and 12
control of the Secretary of the Coast Guard, the Com-13
mandant shall— 14
‘‘(1) prepare for such employment of the Coast 15
Guard, and for such recruiting, organizing, sup-16
plying, equipping (including aspects of research and 17
development assigned by the Secretary of the Coast 18
Guard), training, servicing, mobilizing, demobilizing, 19
administering, and maintaining of the Coast Guard, 20
as will assist in the execution of any power, duty, or 21
function of the Secretary of the department in which 22
the Coast Guard is operating; 23
‘‘(2) investigate and report upon the efficiency 24
of the Coast Guard and its preparation to support 25
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all operations pursuant to the department in which 1
the Coast Guard is operating; 2
‘‘(3) prepare detailed instructions for the execu-3
tion of approved plans and supervise the execution 4
of such plans and instructions; 5
‘‘(4) as directed by the Secretary of the Coast 6
Guard, coordinate the action of organizations of the 7
Coast Guard; and 8
‘‘(5) perform such other duties, not otherwise 9
assigned by law, as may be prescribed by the Sec-10
retary of the department in which the Coast Guard 11
is operating.’’. 12
(4) C
ONFORMING AMENDMENT .—Section 13
1137(a) of title 14, United States Code, is amended 14
by striking ‘‘section 501(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 15
501(a)(4)’’. 16
(b) R
EORGANIZATIONPLAN.— 17
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 18
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 19
of Homeland Security shall submit to the appro-20
priate committees of Congress a reorganization plan 21
with respect to— 22
(A) the number of military and civilian 23
personnel of the Coast Guard to be assigned to 24
the Office of the Secretary of the Coast Guard 25
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pursuant to subsection (c) of section 103 of the 1
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 113); 2
and 3
(B) any reorganization of the Department 4
of Homeland Security necessary as a result of 5
the establishment of the Secretary of the Coast 6
Guard under subsection (c) of section 103 of 7
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 8
113), consistent with sections 101(b) and 888 9
of that Act (6 U.S.C. 111(b), 468). 10
(2) E
LEMENTS.—The plan required by para-11
graph (1) shall include following: 12
(A) Recommendations with respect to leg-13
islative changes necessary to transfer respon-14
sibilities from the Commandant to the Sec-15
retary of the Coast Guard, including with re-16
spect to such responsibilities under— 17
(i) title 10 of the United States Code; 18
(ii) title 14 of the United States Code; 19
and 20
(iii) any law relating to navigation or 21
navigable waters applicable to the Coast 22
Guard. 23
(B) Specification of the steps to be taken 24
by the Secretary of Homeland Security— 25
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(i) to transfer responsibilities from the 1
Secretary of Homeland Security or the 2
Commandant of the Coast Guard to the 3
Secretary of the Coast Guard; and 4
(ii) to organize the Office of the Sec-5
retary of the Coast Guard, including the 6
delegation or assignment of functions to 7
the Secretary of the Coast Guard, so as to 8
allow the Secretary of the Coast Guard to 9
carry out the responsibilities identified 10
under clause (i). 11
(C) Specification of any proposed disposi-12
tion of property, facility, contract, record, or 13
other asset or obligation to be transferred 14
under the plan. 15
(D) Specification of the funds available 16
that will be transferred to the Office of the Sec-17
retary of the Coast Guard as a result of trans-18
fers under the plan. 19
(E) A date on which the plan shall become 20
effective. 21
(F) Any other element the Secretary of 22
Homeland Security considers appropriate. 23
(3) C
ONSIDERATION.—The plan required by 24
paragraph (1) shall take into consideration the role 25
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of the Secretary of the Coast Guard when the Coast 1
Guard is operating as a service in the Navy. 2
(4) M
ODIFICATION.—The Secretary of Home-3
land Security, in consultation with the appropriate 4
committees of Congress, may modify or revise any 5
part of the plan required by this subsection until the 6
date on which the plan becomes effective in accord-7
ance with date set forth under paragraph (2)(E). 8
(5) A
PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS 9
DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro-10
priate committees of Congress’’ means— 11
(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 12
and Transportation, the Committee on Home-13
land Security and Governmental Affairs, and 14
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 15
and 16
(B) the Committee on Transportation and 17
Infrastructure, the Committee on Homeland Se-18
curity, and the Committee on Appropriations of 19
the House of Representatives. 20
Æ
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