The US Coast Guard is required by Title 14 USC to at all times be an armed service capable of supporting the US Navy. Decades of insufficient funding has left the Coast Guard operating obsolete ships and aircraft that are incapable of protecting the country, the fulfillment of its responsibilities, and its requirement to support the DOD.
All major system acquisition programs (buying of ships and aircraft) should be shifted from DHS to DOD oversight, its funding shifted to defense appropriations, and its congressional oversight shifted from DHS to DOD committees. Funding levels for CG acquisition programs should be locked to be no less than a determined percentage of total DOD spending.
The current recapitalization program of record should be completed and funded immediately.