Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem faces scrutiny over a massive, high-priced aircraft procurement finalized on her last day in office, involving a significant donor.
On her final morning leading the Department of Homeland Security. Kristi Noem authorized a procurement deal that left the federal government with five aircraft at prices far exceeding market standards. The contract. signed just as she prepared to exit the agency following her firing by President Donald Trump in early March 2026. funneled $259 million in public funds to Daedalus Aviation Corporation.
The centerpiece of the transaction was a Boeing 737 airliner. retrofitted with marble showers. two bedrooms. a stand-up bar. and a table surfaced in manta ray skin. DHS paid $108 million for the jet, a vehicle Daedalus had acquired only months prior for less than $90 million. The spending continued with two Gulfstream luxury jets purchased for $106 million—planes Daedalus had secured for roughly $83 million—and two 17-year-old Boeing 737s priced at $45 million each. Aviation experts consulted on the deal noted these figures sat millions of dollars above the typical market value for aircraft of that age.
The contract points back to Daedalus chair William Walters, who in 2024 contributed $10,000 to the American Resolve political action committee. While the company stated Walters was unaware of the PAC’s ties to Noem at the time of the donation. archived records of the PAC’s website display Noem’s name and face prominently. complicating the claim of ignorance.
The sheer scale of the expenditure placed Noem’s successor, Markwayne Mullin, in a precarious position. White House officials indicated that Mullin considered cancelling the deal upon taking office later in March but feared the potential for significant financial penalties. After consulting with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the administration allowed the purchase to proceed.
The pattern is clear: a major procurement contract was expedited in the final hours of a tenure, directed to a firm led by a political donor, and finalized at a cost that baffled independent observers.
Noem. currently serving as a special envoy at the State Department. did not address the specific pricing or the timing of the sales when reached for comment. Instead. she took to social media to label the report “factually incorrect” and “libelous. ” issuing a formal demand for a retraction. She contested the characterization of Walters as a “donor,” calling the implication of a direct financial relationship “materially misleading.”.
In response. the outlet responsible for the initial reporting stood by its findings on Sunday. reiterating that the Department of Homeland Security finalized the purchase of the five aircraft at a substantial markup while Noem was in charge. For now, the hardware remains in government possession, and the question of how the price was justified remains unanswered.
Kristi Noem DHS Department of Homeland Security Daedalus Aviation Markwayne Mullin US Politics