House Democrats demand answers from Noem on plans for $50M jet

[Eugene]

Source: The Hill

House Democrats demand answers from Noem on plans for $50M jet

by Rebecca Beitsch - 05/30/25 11:20 AM ET

Democrats are demanding answers about a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plan to purchase a new $50 million jet for Secretary Kristi Noem.

The jet, slotted in as a line item to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) budget, comes as the department argues its current plane is beyond its operational usage hours.

“Reports indicate this jet would cost $50 million and replace one of the two Gulfstream jets already at your disposal. Funding the acquisition of this new jet would come at the cost of other USCG investments, including sorely needed modernization of the USCG’s aging aircraft fleet used by service members for search and rescue and other critical missions,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote in a letter to Noem alongside Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.).

Both Democrats sit on the House Homeland Security panel. Thompson is the panel’s ranking member.

-snip-

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5325718-dhs-jet-funding-coast-guard/

[RainCaster]

1. The airlines are much cheaper

This is not the Party of Fiscal Responsibility

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Democrats have some questions about DHS buying private jets to be used by Kristi Noem

The homeland security secretary was already a controversial figure. Then her agency bought two private jets for her and other DHS officials.

"Kristi Noem was already a controversial figure. Then her agency spent 4 million to buy two private jets for her, at taxpayer expense..."

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Rachel Maddow (@maddow.msnbc.com) 2025-10-20T18:26:53.526Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/democrats-questions-dhs-buying-private-jets-used-kristi-noem-rcna238636

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has generated a great many controversies during her first year in the White House Cabinet, but one of the most problematic has to do with government efficiency — or in the case of the South Dakota Republican, the lack thereof......

There’s one area within DHS, however, where money appears to be flowing quite freely. The New York Times reported:

The Department of Homeland Security has purchased two Gulfstream private jets for Kristi Noem, the secretary, and other top department officials at a cost of $172 million, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. The jets, which a department official said were needed for safety, are the latest expenditures on behalf of Ms. Noem to draw scrutiny from Democrats and other critics who have noted her lavish spending on living and other expenses during her time in public life.

.....The Coast Guard originally requested $50 million to buy a jet to replace the plane Noem is already using. Now, however, DHS is spending $172 million to purchase two jets.....

ProPublica reported last month, for example, that a community in Florida awaiting FEMA assistance found itself stuck in “bureaucratic purgatory,” right up until one of Noem’s wealthy supporters reached out to her, at which point the process dramatically improved.

A month earlier, The Washington Post reported that the secretary was living for free in a military home typically reserved for the Coast Guard’s top admiral. “Other Cabinet officials, including during both Trump administrations, have paid to use military housing that otherwise would be occupied by top generals and admirals,” the article added.

As for her tenure as governor, the Times’ report noted that Noem also used taxpayer money to remodel the governor’s mansion (she bought, among other things, a sauna) before having South Dakota taxpayers cover the costs of her pre-election travel in 2024, including a six-day trip to Paris.