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.
Several months ago, Noem issued a memo requiring all Department of Homeland Security personnel to get her personal approval on all spending in excess of $100,000. In theory, the secretary said she was positioning herself as a responsible steward of taxpayers’ money. In practice, Noem quickly made DHS agencies slower, less responsive and less efficient.
This has been especially problematic at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where critically important FEMA resources have been slow to reach disaster-struck areas because of Noem-imposed bureaucracy. Even congressional Republicans aligned with the Trump administration are sick of it.
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.
Though the Times’ reporting hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson acknowledged the purchase to the Times.
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.
Two key House Democrats, Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, and Lauren Underwood of Illinois, the ranking member overseeing its homeland security panel, apparently want to know where the money came from.
“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. Coast Guard] has been directed to prioritize your own comfort above the [U.S. Coast Guard’s] operational needs, even during a government shutdown,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are deeply concerned about your judgment, leadership priorities, and responsibility as a steward of taxpayer dollars.”
Time will tell how and whether the secretary responds to the request for information from Capitol Hill, but as the burgeoning story unfolds, it’s the latest installment in a series of controversies surrounding Noem. 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.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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