Discussions are underway at the Department of Homeland Security about reevaluating plans to buy a Boeing 737 MAX luxury jet that had been used by Kristi Noem prior to her ouster as DHS secretary, National Review has learned.
Dubbed the "Big Beautiful Jet" by DHS staffers, the luxury jet and its private cabin have become a major source of consternation among Republicans at the department and the White House following a Wall Street Journal report, which alleged that Noem and her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, used the private plane. The department reportedly said that it needs the jet for deportation flights as well as cabinet-level travel. The department is currently leasing the plane and had planned to acquire it for $70 million, but that plan is up in the air amid Noem's departure, which will take effect on March 31.
Cancellation discussions are preliminary — the purchase has been awaiting the approval of the Office of Management and Budget — as agency staffers await new department leadership under Senator Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), President Trump's new pick to lead the department. The White House is hoping that the Senate will confirm him this month, and intra-DHS discussions surrounding staff and contractual changes are considered unresolved until Mullin is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
DHS declined to comment on this story.
National Review first reported last week that Trump was considering Mullin to replace Noem in part because the president was frustrated by Noem's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, during which she repeatedly insisted under oath that the president had given advance approval for a controversial $220 million DHS ad campaign that featured her prominently and was contracted and subcontracted to political allies of Noem and Lewandowski.
“I never knew anything about it,” Trump told Reuters of the ad campaign last week, following NR's report.
The president's private fury with Noem's testimony followed a series of other missteps by the former South Dakota governor, including her constant infighting with other senior DHS officials, her response to the fatal shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis earlier this year, and her leadership style.
Contract approval processes are also expected to change amid reports in National Review and other outlets about Noem and Lewandowski's suspected involvement in steering lucrative DHS contracts toward allies. The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, is now assuming a greater oversight role over DHS contracts, sources familiar with the matter tell National Review.
Major staffing changes are also expected inside DHS, as is common when cabinet shake-ups occur, though the extent of the staff changes is unknown. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott is working behind the scenes to undo personnel changes that Noem had directed inside the sub-agency he leads, sources tell National Review.
DHS staffers who are considered close confidants of Lewandowski are also expected to be reassigned, sources say. The extent of personnel changes inside the front office, legislative affairs office, and public affairs office is still unknown.
Meanwhile, Republicans on Capitol Hill, in the immigration policy world, and inside the administration are anxiously looking to see how Mullin will run the department in Noem's wake. Such intradepartmental conversations come as the White House political team calibrates the GOP's midterm message regarding immigration enforcement.
Earlier on Tuesday, Axios reported that White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair urged House Republicans at their private retreat in Doral, Fla., to stop emphasizing mass deportations and reorient their messaging on the administration's targeted focus on deporting violent criminals.
"Nobody is changing the Administration's immigration enforcement agenda," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement regarding Blair's closed-door remarks. "President Trump's highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities. As the Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly said, approximately 70% of deportations to date have been illegal aliens with criminal records."
"Thanks to President Trump's strong immigration enforcement policies, approximately 3 million illegals have left the United States, either through forced deportation or self-deportation, with zero illegals coming through the most secure border in U.S. History for nine straight months," Jackson added.
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