Exclusive: FEMA scrapped plans for high-tech jets amid scrutiny over DHS spending on unused planes

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP/File

The Federal Emergency Management Agency sought to acquire two executive jets upgraded with military technology for agency leaders even as the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, has struggled to put multiple planes it has purchased to use.

FEMA’s plan to lease two jets with advanced capabilities like laser mapping was quickly withdrawn just hours after a public notice soliciting contracts for them was posted on a government contract website last week.

The proposal had called for planes that would be available 24/7 to support rapid response but would be primarily used to transport FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton and other senior officials during disasters or regular travel, sources told CNN.

FEMA already funds various types of aerial assets such as search-and-rescue teams and often uses military planes for logistics.

Hamilton’s team solicited the jets without approval from DHS leadership, according to three sources who spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity. It quickly drew scrutiny from other department leaders, partly due to controversy over the agency’s aircraft purchases.

“It’s probably not the time to be soliciting planes at DHS,” one of the sources said.

DHS has been accumulating aircraft faster than it is able to put them to use, according to flight records and aviation sources, at the expense of taxpayers. The latest FEMA plan was drawn up as DHS has already spent hundreds of millions on aviation contracts and aircraft, including a fleet of 10 planes the agency said was intended for the department to operate its own mini deportation airline.

But many of those planes have remained parked at a maintenance hangar in Louisiana, and there are no plans to use most of them for deportation operations, CNN has learned.

In recent weeks, two of DHS’ aircraft were moved to a different maintenance facility, in Greensboro, North Carolina, while one of the planes — a Gulfstream jet — has been used to transport administration officials, according to flight-tracking data and members of Congress.

These flights have been used by the likes of FBI Director Kash Patel and members of the first family, according to Democratic members of Congress .

One plane was used for a trip from Washington, DC, to Dallas, on the same dates as the Republican midterm convention in that city last month, the flight-tracking data shows, though it is unclear who was onboard.

Soon after the FEMA leasing plan emerged, DHS leaders quickly demanded agency leaders slam the brakes, the sources said. A spokesperson for DHS told CNN: “This was an unauthorized post by an unauthorized individual and disciplinary action will be taken.”

The administration vowed last year to eliminate FEMA , portraying it as wasteful and unnecessary and pushing states to shoulder more responsibility for disaster response and recovery.

FEMA has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.

The FEMA procurement plan drew scrutiny from DHS leaders who demanded Hamilton’s team reverse course, sources said. Public records show the contract solicitation has been taken down from a government contracting website.

The proposal is the latest instance of President Donald Trump’s DHS pursuing taxpayer-funded aircraft while the administration pledges to cut federal spending and eliminate waste.

Since 2025, DHS has spent heavily on both aviation assets and contracts tied to the Trump administration’s unprecedented deportation effort.

The agency spent $464.5 million to purchase eight Boeing 737s and two Gulfstream G-650 jets as part of a plan to fly its own deportation flights, something the agency for decades has relied on charter airline operators for. In May, some critics told CNN the agency’s purchase price for its fleet was well above the market value.

While those planes remain largely unused, the agency also spent $885.6 million in the last year for contracted charter airline services for Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights.

And now, the agency has awarded a contract worth $380 million to Eastern Air Express — a charter airline — to fly and maintain the “government furnished aircraft,” referring to planes in the DHS fleet that have not carried out a single deportation flight since they were purchased between late 2025 to early 2026.

Federal contracting records show that agreement began in August 2026 and runs through February 2028. It’s unclear what the cost per flight hour the contract calls for or what other aspects of the operations Eastern Air Express will be responsible for.

Neither Eastern Air Express CEO Jeff Conry nor DHS responded to CNN’s request for comment regarding the contract.

Taken together, DHS’ costs for its fleet and contracts with charter airlines for ICE flights exceed $1.6 billion.

But, DHS has told lawmakers privately it is expecting to use only three of the seven Boeing 737 aircraft for deportations. The others would be left for members of Congress and other government officials, according to a congressional source with knowledge of the matter — a departure from the reasoning given for buying the planes, and a significant scaling back on the number of planes the agency initially planned to use for deportations.

There is skepticism among some lawmakers about the plans for these planes and whether they will be used for shuttling members of Congress.

“No one asked for ICE planes for CODELs,” the congressional source noted, referring to an acronym for official travel taken by lawmakers. Transport for these trips usually relies on commercial aircraft or a charter, but “never via ICE planes,” the person said.

“They bought these planes, they paid a ridiculous price for them, they’re trying to find a solution for it, but no one knows how it’s going to work,” one aviation insider familiar with the governments charter operations told CNN.

After DHS halted FEMA’s bid for the jets last week, Hamilton sent a memo to his agency reiterating its role to “support, coordinate and supplement” local efforts and “not replace” these during and after disasters, saying it should “apply sound judgment, fiscal responsibility, and accountability when directing readiness resources.”

FEMA leaders have traditionally relied on aircraft from the Federal Aviation Administration, Air Force or Coast Guard to reach disaster zones, while flying commercial for routine travel.

The agency has considered getting a jet of its own before. During the Biden administration, then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell briefly explored buying a plane for travel during disasters, but the idea never got far.

“We just could not find a true cost-benefit,” Criswell told CNN recently. “The purchase of two dedicated jets is an unnecessary expense and a poor use of taxpayer dollars.”

Hamilton served as FEMA’s acting administrator at the beginning of Trump’s term until then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and her chief adviser, Corey Lewandowski, abruptly removed him after he told Congress he did not believe the agency should be eliminated.

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

During their tenure, Noem and Lewandowski repeatedly assailed FEMA and took steps that slashed the agency’s workforce, battered morale and weakened federal disaster readiness, CNN has reported .

After ousting Noem, Trump nominated Hamilton to return as the agency’s permanent leader, and the Senate confirmed him in August. Sources familiar with Trump’s decision said Hamilton was brought back largely to steady the agency and keep it out of damaging headlines. Since returning, Hamilton has tried to reorganize parts of FEMA but has taken few major steps to advance the administration’s effort to shrink its reach.

Meanwhile, the administration has not confronted a catastrophe on the scale that has tested past presidencies. Career FEMA leaders — including many who have left amid the administration’s cuts — worry the agency may no longer have the people or capacity it will need when that test comes.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/美联社/档案照片

尽管负责监管联邦紧急事务管理局 (FEMA) 的国土安全部一直在努力让其购买的多架飞机投入使用，但 FEMA 仍寻求为该机构领导人购置两架配备军事技术的行政喷气式飞机。

上周，联邦紧急事务管理局 (FEMA) 在政府合同网站上发布了租赁两架具备激光测绘等先进功能的喷气式飞机的招标公告，但几个小时后，该计划就被迅速撤回。

据 CNN 报道，该提案要求配备全天候 (24/7) 可用的飞机，以支持快速响应，但主要用于在灾难期间或日常出行中运送 FEMA 局长卡梅伦·汉密尔顿和其他高级官员。

联邦紧急事务管理局 (FEMA) 已经为各种类型的空中资源（例如搜救队）提供资金，并且经常使用军用飞机进行后勤保障。

据三位不愿透露姓名的消息人士向CNN透露，汉密尔顿的团队在未获得国土安全部领导层批准的情况下，擅自申请购买了这些喷气式飞机。此举很快引起了该部门其他领导人的关注，部分原因是该机构此前在飞机采购方面就存在争议。

“现在可能不是向国土安全部申请飞机的时候，”一位消息人士说。

据飞行记录和航空界消息人士透露，国土安全部（DHS）购置飞机的速度远超其实际使用能力，而这一切都由纳税人买单。联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）最新计划出台之际，国土安全部已在航空合同和飞机上花费数亿美元，其中包括该机构声称计划用于运营其小型遣返航空公司的10架飞机。

但据 CNN 报道，这些飞机中的许多仍然停放在路易斯安那州的一个维修机库里，而且目前还没有计划将其中大部分用于遣返行动。

根据航班跟踪数据和国会议员的说法，最近几周，国土安全部的两架飞机被转移到位于北卡罗来纳州格林斯伯勒的另一个维修设施，而其中一架飞机——一架湾流喷气式飞机——已被用于运送政府官员。

据国会民主党议员称，联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔和第一家庭成员都曾乘坐过这些航班。

航班跟踪数据显示，上个月在华盛顿特区举行的共和党中期选举大会期间，有一架飞机曾飞往达拉斯，但目前尚不清楚机上人员情况。

消息人士称，联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）的租赁计划一经公布，国土安全部（DHS）领导层便迅速要求各机构负责人叫停该计划。国土安全部发言人告诉CNN：“这是未经授权人员发布的未经授权的帖子，我们将采取纪律处分。”

去年，政府誓言要取消联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA），称其浪费资源且不必要，并敦促各州承担更多灾害应对和恢复的责任。

美国联邦紧急事务管理局（FEMA）尚未回应CNN的置评请求。

消息人士称，联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）的采购计划引起了国土安全部（DHS）领导层的密切关注，他们要求汉密尔顿的团队改变方案。公开记录显示，该合同招标已从政府合同网站上撤下。

这项提案是唐纳德·特朗普总统领导的国土安全部在政府承诺削减联邦开支和消除浪费的同时，仍然寻求用纳税人的钱购买飞机的最新例证。

自 2025 年以来，国土安全部在航空资产和与特朗普政府史无前例的驱逐行动相关的合同上投入了大量资金。

该机构斥资4.645亿美元购买了8架波音737飞机和2架湾流G-650喷气式飞机，旨在自行执行遣返航班。几十年来，该机构一直依赖包机公司执行此类任务。今年5月，一些批评人士告诉CNN，该机构购买这批飞机的价格远高于市场价。

虽然这些飞机大多仍未使用，但该机构去年还花费了 8.856 亿美元用于移民和海关执法部门航班的包机服务。

现在，该机构已授予东方航空快运（一家包机航空公司）一份价值 3.8 亿美元的合同，用于飞行和维护“政府提供的飞机”，指的是国土安全部机队中自 2025 年末至 2026 年初购买以来尚未执行过一次驱逐航班的飞机。

联邦合同记录显示，该协议于2026年8月生效，至2028年2月到期。目前尚不清楚合同规定的每飞行小时成本是多少，也不清楚东方航空快运公司还将负责运营的哪些其他方面。

东方航空快运公司首席执行官杰夫·康瑞和美国国土安全部均未回应 CNN 就该合同提出的置评请求。

综合来看，国土安全部 (DHS) 的机队成本以及与包机航空公司签订的 ICE 航班合同成本超过 16 亿美元。

但据一位了解内情的国会消息人士透露，国土安全部私下告诉议员，预计只会使用七架波音737飞机中的三架执行遣返任务。其余飞机将留给国会议员和其他政府官员使用——这与当初购买这些飞机的理由截然不同，也大幅缩减了该机构最初计划用于遣返的飞机数量。

一些议员对这些飞机的计划以及它们是否会用于接送国会议员表示怀疑。

“没有人要求议员公务出行（CODEL）时乘坐ICE飞机，”这位国会消息人士指出，他指的是议员公务出行的缩写。该消息人士表示，这些出行通常依靠商业航班或包机，但“绝不会使用ICE飞机”。

一位熟悉政府包机业务的航空业内部人士告诉 CNN：“他们购买了这些飞机，为此支付了高昂的价格，他们正在努力寻找解决方案，但没有人知道这将如何运作。”

上周，国土安全部叫停了联邦紧急事务管理局（FEMA）对喷气式飞机的竞标后，汉密尔顿向他的机构发出了一份备忘录，重申其在灾难期间和之后的作用是“支持、协调和补充”地方工作，而不是“取代”这些工作，并表示该机构应该“在指导准备资源时运用合理的判断、财政责任和问责制”。

联邦紧急事务管理署 (FEMA) 的领导人历来依靠联邦航空管理局、空军或海岸警卫队的飞机抵达灾区，而日常出行则乘坐商业航班。

该机构此前曾考虑过购置一架私人飞机。在拜登政府时期，时任联邦紧急事务管理署署长迪安娜·克里斯韦尔曾短暂探讨过购买飞机用于灾难救援，但这个想法最终未能实现。

克里斯韦尔近日告诉CNN：“我们实在找不到真正的成本效益。购买两架专用喷气式飞机是不必要的开支，也是对纳税人资金的浪费。”

在特朗普任期初期，汉密尔顿曾担任联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）代理署长，直到时任国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆和她的首席顾问科里·莱万多夫斯基在他告诉国会他不认为该机构应该被取消后，突然解除了他的职务。

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

据 CNN 报道，诺姆和莱万多夫斯基在任期间多次抨击联邦紧急事务管理署 (FEMA)，并采取措施大幅削减该机构的员工人数，打击士气，削弱联邦灾害应对能力。

在罢免诺姆之后，特朗普提名汉密尔顿重返联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）担任常任署长，参议院于8月确认了这一任命。知情人士透露，特朗普此举的主要目的是为了稳定FEMA，避免其再次成为负面新闻的焦点。汉密尔顿回归​​后，试图重组FEMA的部分部门，但在推进政府缩小FEMA权力范围的努力方面，他鲜有重大举措。

与此同时，本届政府尚未面临过以往历届总统都曾遭遇过的那种规模的灾难。包括许多因政府削减预算而离职的联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）资深领导人在内的许多人担心，当危机来临时，该机构可能不再拥有所需的人员或能力。