DHS Leadership Under Pressure to Sell Luxury Aircraft Acquired During Previous Administration

Congressman James Walkinshaw (VA-11), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, joined by ranking member Bennie Thompson (MS-02), sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding that he sell the two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets and Boeing 737 MAX purchased during former Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure.

The letter follows a recent committee hearing in which Walkinshaw pressed Mullin on why he continues to use one of the luxury aircraft purchased under former Secretary Noem. When asked why DHS should sell the aircraft, Secretary Mullin responded, “Why do I need to sell them?”

In the letter, Walkinshaw and Thompson argue that Mullin cannot claim to clean up DHS while turning one of the administration’s most obscene taxpayer-funded symbols of waste into his own luxury travel perk.

“The answer is simple: the credibility of your promise to clean house after the corrupt and scandal-plagued Noem-Lewandowski era and your commitment to be the ‘best possible steward of taxpayer dollars’ depends on it,” the lawmakers wrote. “These purchases of top-of-the-line luxury jets were profligate, fiscally irresponsible, and a slap in the face to the hardworking Americans who paid for them.”

The lawmakers also criticized DHS for prioritizing luxury aircraft while the United States Coast Guard, the only uniformed service within DHS, continues to face aging aircraft, crumbling infrastructure, workforce shortages, and quality-of-life challenges.

In the letter, Walkinshaw and Thompson acknowledge that the Secretary of Homeland Security needs access to secure government aircraft with appropriate communications and security capabilities. But they argue those requirements do not justify keeping two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets, an aircraft widely viewed as a jet of choice for billionaires, along with a Boeing 737 MAX.

“We are not suggesting you fly coach and have no objection to you flying in a government plane,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, the Gulfstream G550, purchased by DHS in 2022, more than meets the statutory and practical requirements.”

By selling the aircraft, the lawmakers argue that DHS could acquire or use a secure government plane that meets the Secretary’s operational needs for far less, saving taxpayers more than $100 million.

The lawmakers concluded: “These jets represent profligate waste, disdain for the American taxpayer, and contempt for the Department of Homeland Security, whose budget was raided while Department leadership pursued a lavish jet-setting lifestyle.”