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The head of the United States Department of Homeland Security allegedly approved the acquisition of Spirit Airline aircraft before learning that the airline did not actually own the aircraft – and that the aircraft were missing power plants.

This bizarre incident was contained in a report released on the end of the week, which described how the secretary and a former campaign manager had recently attempted to buy 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the pair intended to use the jets to increase removal flights – and for personal travel.

Those insiders also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had cautioned them that purchasing aircraft would be far more expensive than simply expanding current charter agreements.

Immigration officials confronting fierce backlash after video reportedly shows unresponsive individual clutching child during arrest.

Making the situation more complex, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in August, did not own the aircraft and their engines would have had to be acquired separately. The plan has since been halted, according to the investigation.

In the interim, Democratic lawmakers on the House funding panel said in the autumn that during this season's record-long government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security had already purchased two Gulfstream aircraft for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a federal shutdown, the United States Coast Guard entered into a sole source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace to acquire two new G700 luxury jets to facilitate travel for the secretary and the deputy, at a expense to the public of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a communication to the department.

A DHS spokesperson told the Journal that some details in the report about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but declined to offer further details.

The legislature had previously approved the termed “big, beautiful bill” in July, which allocates roughly $170 billion for immigration-related and border-related operations, a sum that makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most heavily funded federal agency in the federal government.

In the autumn, it was reported that the administration was moving immigrants held as part of its deportation agenda in ways that violated their legal rights, often by air.

Leaked data reviewed from charter airline GlobalX outlined the travels of thousands of immigrants who have been shuttled around the nation before removal.