Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem boards Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma to meet with U.S. Coast Guard and law enforcement officials in New York City, March 5, 2025. (Sydney Phoenix/U.S. Coast Guard)
President Donald Trump is not the only one in his administration seeking a new plane. The Department of Homeland Security is planning on a new Gulfstream V, an agency official confirmed Wednesday.
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Illinois) questioned the spending plan during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the U.S. Coast Guard and in a social media post, contending that the aircraft would be primarily used by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Underwood said the funding, which she placed at $50 million, would be taken from the budget of the Coast Guard, which is overseen by the DHS.
“She already has a Gulfstream 5, by the way, but she wants a new one paid for with your taxpayer dollars,” Underwood wrote on X. Referring to the Coast Guard, Underwood added: “We should be investing in our national security and improving the lives of our Coasties - not wasting taxpayer dollars on luxury travel and political stunts.”
At the hearing, Underwood asked Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting Coast Guard commandant, whether he had received any communication from his DHS superiors about a new plane for Noem. He did not directly answer the question, saying that the Coast Guard has two long-range military command and control aircraft.
Lunday described the Coast Guard’s aircraft fleet as aging and said Noem’s plane is “approaching obsolescence.” Such aircraft are necessary for top DHS and Coast Guard officials, he said, to ensure reliable communications and travel plans.
Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant DHS secretary, defended the planned Gulfstream acquisition, saying the agency’s aircraft are “well beyond their service life and safe operational usage.” In a statement, she said the current Gulfstream is more than 20 years old, making it “well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft.”
The disclosure of the DHS’s interest in a new jet comes as Trump has been advocating for a pair of new aircraft to act as Air Force One, the designation given to specially equipped and fortified jets that ferry the president.
Trump has been seeking a new model from Boeing since his first term, but production delays have set back the expected delivery time, prompting criticism from the president.
This week, Trump has faced criticism from Democrats and intelligence communities for saying he plans to accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 as a gift from the government of Qatar. During a visit to the Middle East, the president said he would use the plane for a “couple of years” while he waits for a pair of Boeing planes to be completed.
Ethics experts have raised concerns that such a donation from a foreign government would be unconstitutional, violating the emoluments clause, which forbids U.S. officials to accept gifts or other things of value from foreign officials without congressional approval.
