'Priorities': Kristi Noem ripped for demanding new $50M jet while the Coast Guard struggles

20 May

Kristi Noem

In mid-May, Kristi Noem — secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — requested a $50 million jet for her private use, and the money will come from the federal budget for the U.S. Coast Guard.

This request, according to The Intercept's Nick Turse, is setting off alarm bells — as it comes at a time when the Coast Guard badly needs "new ships and planes" and has an "aging air fleet."

In an article published on May 20, Turse explains, "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."

One of the lawmakers who is sounding the alarm is Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut).

Murphy told The Intercept, "The secretary’s plane isn’t the only Coast Guard asset operating past its prime, and yet, hers is the (Homeland Security) Department’s number-one priority for replacement…. A Trump Cabinet official putting themselves before the people they serve is par for the course."

The Connecticut Democrat criticized Noem for using the jet for her "personal national photo op tour."

Steve Ellis, president of the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense and a former U.S. Coast Guard officer, is speaking out as well.

Ellis told The Intercept, "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 through the Coast Guard because they know how to buy planes. But this last-minute spending shift raises questions. Was this a planned replacement for an aircraft at the end of its lifecycle, or was this a top-down decision to get Secretary Noem a fancy new jet ahead of schedule? The Coast Guard has a lot of aging equipment and money spent on an executive jet isn't available for other asset needs. It's a question of priorities."

Turse notes that Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant for the Coast Guard, recently acknowledged that that Guard's fleet needs an upgrade.

Lunday, during a House Appropriations Committee hearing, testified, "We’re continually hampered by pressure for sustaining and operating our assets, our boats and our ships… We’re not able to maintain them at the rate we need to, and so, they're not always as available as we need them to be when a mission demand occurs or an operational case is detected.

Read Nick Turse's full article for The Intercept at this link.

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