The Coast Guard is temporarily suspending its policy against harassing behavior to conduct a 90-day policy review.

It is unclear why the policy was halted, and the Coast Guard emphasizes that harassment remains prohibited even amid the suspension of the policy that serves as the foundation for how the Coast Guard addresses harassment.

In a message sent to all Coast Guard units on Monday, Coast Guard Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said while the policy is suspended pending a review, Coast Guard leaders should still “act promptly in response to any allegation of misconduct, including violations of our core values, and hold offenders accountable.”

“The lawful general order prohibiting harassing behavior, hate, or other conduct as defined and prohibited in REF (A) remains in effect,” the announcement from Lunday reads.

Titled “Harassing Behavior Prevention, Response, and Accountability,” the policy outlines the definitions of harassment and related misconduct, reporting procedures, investigation procedures and accountability measures.

The document was issued in 2023 during Adm. Linda Fagan’s tenure as Commandant, consolidating all procedures related to harassment and other forms of harassing behavior within the Coast Guard.

Fagan, the first woman to lead the Coast Guard, was ousted by the Trump administration last week. While the reasons for her firing were unclear, the service grappled with recruitment shortfalls and revelations of mishandled sexual assault and harassment cases during her tenure.

The suspension of the policy also comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday ending all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the military.

The Coast Guard didn’t immediately respond to questions about why the policy was suspended.

As for pending complaints already filed under the suspended policy, commanding officers and officers in charge are instructed to handle those cases “at the lowest appropriate level.”

The Coast Guard will still follow all requirements laid out in the suspended policy for investigation and resolution of sexual harassment complaints. There must be strong evidence showing it is more likely than not that the harassment occurred for the anti-harassment program management office, which is responsible for managing the Coast Guard anti-harassment program, and the chief prosecutor office to take on those complaints.

Commands were also instructed to delay initiating the process of involuntarily separating a service member for a substantiated case of sexual harassment until the chief prosecutor office takes action on the case.

Any allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other serious offenses, are required to be reported to the Coast Guard Investigative Service, which has the authority to conduct criminal investigations.

In addition, the Coast Guard is still required to follow the guidance outlined in the suspended policy regarding hate incidents. The policy has different procedures for reporting and resolving potential hate incidents given that those incidents do not target a specific person and may not constitute harassing behavior. The policy defines a hate incident as an intentional act motivated by bias against a race, religion, gender, national origin, or other protected characteristic.

Coast Guard personnel can still file an Equal Opportunity or Equal Employment Opportunity complaint under the Coast Guard’s Civil Rights Manual or file complaints with external oversight agencies, including the DHS inspector general, the Merit Systems Protection Board, or the office of special counsel.

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