Overview
- Department of Homeland Security records show the agency agreed to buy five aircraft from Daedalus Aviation, a firm tied to a political donor, in the final hours of Kristi Noem’s tenure as secretary.
- The largest sale listed a converted Boeing 737 Max 8 for $108 million that Daedalus had purchased months earlier for about $90 million, while two smaller luxury jets were bought for $106 million after Daedalus paid roughly $83 million for them.
- The agency also bought two nearly 20-year-old Boeing 737 passenger planes for $45 million apiece, prices that aviation experts told reporters were well above market value.
- Reporting based on agency documents describes high-end cabin features on the converted 737 and notes that the timing and single-vendor source of the purchases have raised questions about conflicts of interest and procurement controls.
- The New York Times’ document-based reporting has driven the coverage and officials have not provided a formal public explanation in the stories, leaving possible oversight reviews or inquiries as the most likely next steps.