Senate Dems Urge Probe into DHS Purchase of 12 Aircraft

U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee Democratic leaders are seeking an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) purchase of four Gulfstreams—two G650s and two G700s—and eight Boeing 737s for the Trump Administration’s use.

Appropriations Committee vice chair Patty Murray (D-Washington) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), the ranking member of the homeland security subcommittee, sent a letter to both DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and the DHS inspector general requesting the investigation, calling the purchases a “gross misuse” of tax dollars.

“It has come to our attention that the Department of Homeland Security is effectively running an in-house private jet service for Trump Administration officials with a slew of new luxury jets and other airplanes it has acquired and begun providing to officials over the last year,” they wrote in the letter. 

They noted that the jets were acquired with funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), even though Congress did not authorize the purchase for executive travel, and thus questioned the legal authority to acquire them.

The Senators maintain that, during last fall’s government shutdown, DHS used nearly $200 million in OBBBA funding intended for the U.S. Coast Guard to acquire two G700s. “The jets were acquired despite the fact that DHS already owns two Gulfstream jets to support executive travel and despite the fact that DHS had never raised the need for any additional jets in any of its annual budget requests,” they said. “The department stole money that should have been used to support modernization of the Coast Guard’s fleet, meet operational needs, and improve military readiness to instead purchase two new luxury jets to shuttle the DHS Secretary and Deputy Secretary around the globe.”

Other aircraft acquired include two G650s, one of which is on lease to the FBI for senior official travel while the other is being retrofitted for DHS official travel. A VIP Boeing 737 Max 8, equipped with a bedroom, shower, and other amenities, is intended for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation flights and Cabinet-level travel, along with first lady use. Four Boeing 737s will be used for congressional delegation travel, and three more will be used for ICE travel.

“The Department’s purchase of these airplanes to shuttle administration officials around the globe demonstrates a remarkable disregard for American taxpayers who work hard and expect government officials to responsibly manage their tax dollars, not burn them on extravagant luxury jets,” the lawmakers added, further stating, “This administration has lit taxpayer dollars on fire by acquiring new and unnecessary planes to jet Trump officials around in extreme luxury that the vast majority of Americans will never experience.”

Stating the public should have a full accounting of the purchases, they directed the department to provide by August 26 the contract details of the purchases, retrofit, and missionization of each aircraft; cost analysis for their operations and maintenance; flight logs to date, including passenger manifests; a copy of the agreements with other departments for their use; and the legal justifications.