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Elon Musk’s time as an adviser to US president Donald Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency has been and gone, but all the talk from the Republican’s administration about cutting wasteful spending continues to cause them quite the headache, as people are asking exactly how two new private jets for Kristi Noem align with that messaging.
The New York Times reports the Department of Homeland Security has bought two Gulfstream jets for its secretary “and other top department officials” for the eye-watering price of $172 million.
An official at the department said the purchase was “a matter of safety”, that the department’s previous jet was more than 20 years old, and that it was “well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft”.
The US Coast Guard requested a single long-range Gulfstream V jet in its budget earlier this year, with an estimated cost of $50 million, to replace an ageing one used by Noem.
In May, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant Kevin Lunday said of the older jet: “The avionics are obsolete, the communications are increasingly unreliable and it’s in need of recapitalization, like much of the rest of the fleet.”
He went on to add that the new aircraft was essential “to provide agency leaders with 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.”
But Noem’s political opponents have concerns, with Rosa DeLauro and Lauren Underwood – top Democrats on the Appropriations and Homeland Security committees – sending the secretary a letter asking her to “clarify the funding source”.
According to The New York Times, it reads: “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.
“We are deeply concerned about your judgment, leadership priorities, and responsibility as a steward of taxpayer dollars.”
And they’re not the only ones with questions, as people took to social media to criticise the US government’s spending decisions:
“This comes as Americans can barely afford groceries,” wrote podcaster Bryan Tyler Cohen:
Retired US Air Force colonel Moe Davis noted the purchase comes as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is yet to approve a single buyout following Hurricane Helene in North Carolina:
Others also pointed out the context surrounding the outlandish purchase, and ways in which the $172 million sum could have, arguably, been better spent – such as on USAID:
“All this, while they raise health care premiums on tens of millions of working Americans,” wrote CNN political analyst David Axelrod:
And Republicans Against Trump asked "where's DOGE?":
Senators also waded into the debate, with Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut calling on Noem to “pay essential workers and stop putting herself before dedicated public servants":
Ruben Gallego, of Arizona, tweeted: “You can’t make this stuff up”:
And it’s not the first time people have been left questioning whether the Trump administration’s actions have constituted ‘government efficiency’.
When the US president flew Air Force One over the Daytona racecourse back in February and had his presidential limousine, known as The Beast, do a lap around the circuit, critics slammed it all as “wasteful”.
In response to a request for comment, Sean Plankey, senior adviser to the Secretary for the Coast Guard, told Indy100: “It’s incredibly disappointing that Congressman Larsen has a Coast Guard facility in his district, but is playing politics with the funding of the Coast Guard. This is a matter of safety and mission readiness.
“It’s well known that senior military officials and cabinet members need secure command and control and rapid long range mobility. Flippant comments like this are great for clicks and fundraising emails, but don’t reflect the reality of protecting the American people 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year.
“As a member of congressional leadership, and the top democrat on the transportation and infrastructure committee he should know more about this matter than his comments indicate.”
Why not read…
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