A pair of luxury Gulfstream jets purchased for Secretary Kristi Noem and senior Homeland Security officials are raising eyebrows in Washington, not just for the price tag but for what they seem to represent.
Kristi Noem’s $172 Million Gulfstream Acquisition: Homeland Security’s Latest “Safety” Upgrade
According to documents reviewed by The New York Times, the Department of Homeland Security has signed a $172 million contract with Gulfstream for two G700 private jets, aircraft marketed for their “most spacious cabin in the industry.” Officials say the planes are necessary for “safety” and “secure, reliable, on-demand communications,” but the purchase goes well beyond the department’s initial budget request for a single replacement jet.
The Coast Guard had previously sought $50 million to replace an aging Gulfstream V used for official travel, calling the older aircraft “increasingly obsolete” even though it was well-maintained and fully operational. Yet DHS ultimately settled on two top-of-the-line G700s, costing roughly three times that amount. Lawmakers are now asking how and why the scope expanded.
In a letter to Secretary Noem, senior House Democrats questioned the funding source and accused her of prioritizing “comfort above operational needs,” a sharp rebuke during a government shutdown that has affected Coast Guard pay and operations (you can read the letter here). DHS insists the purchase was a matter of safety, citing the age and usage hours of its existing jet.
Ms. Noem, who personally approves any departmental expense above $100,000, has faced repeated criticism for her own spending. Earlier this year she stayed rent-free at a waterfront residence reserved for the Coast Guard commandant, citing security concerns, and frequently used the agency’s private jet for personal travel (reimbursing the Coast Guard for that expense only when called out by overnemtn watchdogs).
Before arriving in Washington, Noem made headlines in South Dakota for redecorating the governor’s mansion with $68,000 in taxpayer funds, including a sauna, and for billing the state around $150,000 for political and personal trips, including a Paris speech on behalf of President Trump and a bear hunt in Canada.
CONCLUSION
Government air travel has always been an easy target for criticism, and I’ve called out the use of private jets on both sides of the aisle. Even so, this incident strikes me as problematic. Two Gulfstream G700s aren’t just tools of convenience; they’re symbols of detachment. When the agency charged with border security is flying brand-new luxury jets while the Coast Guard struggles to make payroll, justifications based on“safety” ring hollow. The planes may well be useful, even necessary. The timing and scale are the problem.
> Read More: President Trump Tells Speaker Pelosi To Fly Commercial
“waste fraud and abuse….”
You don’t need healthcare. You don’t need social security. You don’t need lower taxes. You don’t need groceries to cost less. What you do need to do is sacrifice so member’s of Dear Leader’s government, and his donors, can get tax breaks and toys.
All the commies are crying now. The illegitimate January 6th investigation cost much more.
Seriously, vote for scum, and this is what you get.
Yet another example of the endless corruption and probable criminal activity of this administration. Every one of his cabinet appointments, and SCOTUS nominees, was basically a big middle finger to the USA. Not one of them makes a decision for best interests of the people, their decisions are purely based on their own and corporate best interests, and maintaining power.
If Biden or Obama had ever done 1% of what this administration (approved by SCOTUS) has done, FAUX “News” would have self-destructed and every GOP would have been apoplectically incapacitated.
Of course, the actual TDS sufferers MAGAturds, like Douchebag Dave Edwards, in he/she/it’s/their’s grotesque deranged perverse way of thinking will try to spin it as more “winning”, like the Qatar 747 or making the Rose Garden look like Mar-a-Lago or making the Oval Office look like a cheap imitation version of Versailles or ….
you did not comment on anything the dems did but now this a big deal! unreal politics!! They gave away billions to the free ride people, who ever donated to them got the $$.
are you defending this?
You do realize this needs to have special safety equipment like bullet-proofing. Mostly that’s in case there’s a dog in her cabin that “needs attention.”
Noem deserves this like Argentina deserves 40 billion. Time for the thieves to start wearing masks.
Can’t really defend anyone who shoots a puppy.
Unreal. So Ice Barbie can jet around our country posing for photo ops.
Don’t insult Barbie like that.
DOGE guts everything else and turns a blind eye to this.