Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly tried to buy a fleet of Spirit Airlines jets that didn’t belong to the airline — and didn’t have engines.

She Tried To Buy Planes From Spirit – That Spirit Didn’t Even Own

According to a Wall Street Journal report published Friday, Noem and Corey Lewandowski, one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers and the former manager of his 2016 campaign, attempted to purchase 10 Boeing 737s from the discount carrier to expand the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation flights. People familiar with the matter told the paper that Noem and Lewandowski also intended to use the planes for personal travel. But the deal fell apart after officials learned that Spirit Airlines didn’t actually own the jets — and that they were missing their engines. Spirit, which declared bankruptcy for the second time in August, leases most of its fleet and has sold off assets in recent years to stay afloat. ICE officials reportedly warned Noem that buying planes outright would cost far more than expanding the department’s existing flight contracts.

Mismanagement At An Extreme Level

The strange episode shows exactly the chaos and mismanagement that’s happening at the top levels of the Trump administration’s immigration apparatus. Since taking over DHS earlier this year, Noem has aligned herself closely with the president’s hardline deportation agenda, which the agency says is on pace to remove more than 600,000 immigrants by year’s end.

Is Noem Obsessed With Airplanes?

The Spirit Airlines purchase is just one of several controversial aviation-related moves tied to Noem’s department. In October, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee revealed that DHS had purchased two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets for roughly $200 million, even as the government was in the midst of a record shutdown. In a letter to the agency, Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Lauren Underwood questioned why the Coast Guard — which falls under DHS jurisdiction — awarded a no-bid contract to Gulfstream Aerospace for what appeared to be executive travel. “It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a government shutdown, the United States Coast Guard entered into a sole-source contract…to procure two new G700 luxury jets to support travel for you and the deputy secretary,” the lawmakers wrote. DHS officials told the Journal that some elements of the reporting on plane purchases were “inaccurate,” but declined to elaborate.

If She Wants It, She Can Buy It (Sort Of)

Congress approved Trump’s sweeping “One Big Beautiful Bill” in July, allocating more than $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border operations — a sum that makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the country. That money is already transforming how the government moves people. In September, the Guardian reported that detainees swept up in the administration’s deportation surge were being flown around the country in ways that often violated their rights, according to leaked flight data from the charter company Global Crossing Airlines.