Kristi Noem splashed out a whopping $172 million purchasing not one but two luxury jets to transport herself and other department officials.
The Coast Guard, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, had already requested an estimated $50 million for a spanking new Gulfstream V jet to replace the apparently run-down old one the secretary has been using.
Documents obtained by The New York Times reportedly show DHS has now signed a deal with Gulfstream to purchase two “used” G700s, a model that apparently boasts “the most spacious cabin in the industry.” The contract for the planes comes in at around $172 million, claims The Times. The newspaper adds it’s been unable to determine exactly where the funding came from.
Coast Guard acting commandant Kevin Lunday told Congress in May that the existing aircraft needed replacing because “the avionics are increasingly obsolete, the communications are increasingly unreliable and it’s in need of recapitalization, like much of the rest of the fleet.”
Lunday added the new aircraft would provide “secure, reliable, on-demand communications and movement to go forward, visit our operating forces, conducting the missions and then come back here to Washington and make sure we can work together to get them what they need.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to DHS for comment on this story. A spokesperson told the Times that the new jets were bought as “a matter of safety” because the old aircraft, being 20 years old, was “well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft.”
The purchase doesn’t appear to have passed Noem’s political opponents by. Two top-ranking Democrats, Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro and Lauren Underwood, have written to Noem asking her to “clarify the funding source.”
“In addition to raising serious questions about your ability to effectively lead an agency whose procurement strategies appear to vary on a whim, the procurement of new luxury jets for your use suggests that the U.S.C.G. has been directed to prioritize your own comfort above the U.S.C.G.’s operational needs, even during a government shutdown,” their letter reportedly reads. “We are deeply concerned about your judgment, leadership priorities, and responsibility as a steward of taxpayer dollars.”
It’s not the first time Noem’s spending has come under scrutiny since she assumed her post at the MAGA administration earlier this year. Democrats blasted her for reportedly staying free-of-charge at a glitzy Washington, D.C. residence ordinarily reserved for top Coast Guard brass. She has also faced charges of hypocrisy for changes she’s implemented at her department, requiring her to sign off on any expenditure over $100,000.
Those revelations came after it emerged that taxpayers in South Dakota, where Noem was formerly governor, had stumped up around $150,000 to meet her official and personal travel expenses while she was campaigning for Trump last year. Those costs reportedly included a bear-hunting trip to Canada with her niece.
