A mystery fleet of aircraft purchased by the Department of Homeland Security has drawn renewed scrutiny to former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who is seeking to distance herself from a $464 million deal that critics describe as a costly embarrassment for the agency she once led, according to the New York Times.

DHS awarded a no-bid contract to Daedalus Aviation Corporation, a Virginia-based firm with political connections to Noem but no prior federal contracting history, to acquire 10 used aircraft last fall. The department invoked a rarely used exemption for cases of "unusual and compelling urgency" — a provision in federal acquisition regulations that permits agencies to circumvent competitive bidding in emergencies but requires documented justification for doing so — asserting the planes were immediately required for deportation flights.

Months later, however, most of the fleet remains largely idle. Three of the aircraft are luxury business jets; one has been leased to the FBI to support Director Kash Patel's travel, while another was offered to the Pentagon without success. The remaining seven are Boeing 737s that have been parked for extended periods at an airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana. An internal government document attributes the grounding to a lack of qualified staff to operate them.

As scrutiny intensifies, DHS and Noem are trading blame over responsibility for the deal. In a written statement, the department said the Daedalus contract "was made and approved by department leadership before Secretary Markwayne Mullin was sworn in" — an apparent attempt to place responsibility on Noem, who was dismissed by President Donald Trump in March.

A spokeswoman for Noem disputed that account, telling reporters the purchase was actually "finalized" after Mullin, a former Oklahoma senator, assumed the secretary role. Contracting records indicate the contract's value increased by $303 million on the same day Mullin was sworn in.

Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), both members of the Appropriations Committee, which holds jurisdiction over federal agency budgets and spending decisions, sent a letter to DHS this week requesting "a full accounting." The senators noted that department staff had already acknowledged most of the planes would not, in fact, be used for deportations.

Questions about how Daedalus secured the contract have been amplified by the disclosure that its chairman, William Walters, previously donated to a political committee linked to Noem during her tenure as South Dakota's governor. A company spokesman stated that Walters was unaware of the committee's connections to Noem.

The aircraft acquisition mirrors an earlier reversal during Noem's time at DHS, when the department spent over $700 million acquiring detention warehouses, only to begin giving or selling them off months later under Mullin.

DHS now says it requires a new contractor to keep the planes operational, with that arrangement not expected to commence until next summer.