Amna Nawaz
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WATCH: Noem defends DHS use of luxury jets in oversight hearing with Senate Judiciary panel
Posted
March 3, 2026
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March 3, 2026
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10:40
4:07Now PlayingSen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in an oversight hearing Tuesday to explain her agency’s use of private planes to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda.
After an aide held up an enlarged image of the interior of a luxury jet with a big bed, Noem said the photo wasn’t accurate. She added that if the senator was referring to the planes DHS is purchasing, they’re meant for long-range command and control aircraft mandated by Congress.
She later added that this kind of aircraft would seat up to 17 people in DHS for national security purposes.
“We are complying with the law,” she said.
The agency has faced criticism for procuring these jets for deportation flights and travel for administration officials.
Noem’s agency has been roiled by turmoil and public outcry in recent days. The shooting of two U.S. citizens by federal officers in Minneapolis prompted weeks of protests in the Twin Cities area. Trump officials, including Noem, accused the victims – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – of committing acts of “domestic terrorism.”
But bystander videos challenged the administration’s narrative of the high-profile shooting deaths, and documented DHS deploying other aggressive tactics. Greater scrutiny by Democrats into the ways the Trump administration has been carrying out his mass deportation agenda led to a lapse in the agency’s funding and partial government shutdown.
Congressional lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to fund the department, though there are areas of bipartisan agreement, such as a body camera requirement for immigration enforcement agents.
Noem will also field questions Wednesday from the House Judiciary Committee.
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