Kristi Noem, President Donald Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security, came under fire last week for her department’s eleventh-hour request for a new luxury jet: $50 million for a Gulfstream 5 for Noem’s personal use, paid for out of the budget of the Coast Guard.

The Department of Homeland Security responded to the denunciations with a stirring defense. “The current CG-101 G550 is over twenty years old, outside of Gulfstream’s service life, and well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft. This is a matter of safety,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin told The Intercept. “Much like the Coast Guard’s ships that are well beyond their service life and safe operational usage, Coast Guard’s aircraft are too.”

Experts say that McLaughlin is right. The Coast Guard — which is a part the Department of Homeland Security — needs new ships and planes. But the proposed budget already earmarked more than $500 million to upgrade the service’s aging air fleet. Experts and members of Congress are left questioning why DHS would prioritize buying a luxury plane for a Cabinet secretary seemingly obsessed with traveling far and wide for photo ops, from New York City to El Salvador, over the aircraft needed for core Coast Guard duties.

“The Secretary’s plane isn’t the only Coast Guard asset operating past its prime, and yet hers is the Department’s number one priority for replacement,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told The Intercept, after blasting Noem’s desire for a “tricked out” new plane for her “personal national photo op tour.” He added, “A Trump Cabinet official putting themselves before the people they serve is par for the course.”

DHS failed to reply to a request for information about when and how the decision was made to replace the jet, who was behind the decision, and why the Gulfstream 5 was chosen

“On its face, there’s nothing wrong with DHS buying a replacement for a 20-year-old plane per se, and it makes sense to fund replacements like this........

© The Intercept