He Got Kristi Noem Fired for This. Then He Did It Himself.
Markwayne Mullin watched his predecessor lose her job over a luxury jet scandal. Then he took the same jet home to Oklahoma every Thursday.
The DHS Secretary, confirmed just months ago as the tough-on-the-border replacement for the ousted Kristi Noem, has been quietly doing exactly what got Noem removed: using a $70 million government Gulfstream G700 for near-weekly personal travel, leaving Washington Thursday mornings and returning Monday. That is a four-day workweek, run from a ranch in Oklahoma, at taxpayer expense.
When a Democratic congressman asked him about it under oath, Mullin did not deny it. He bragged about it.
The Jet That Already Ended One Career
Kristi Noem did not just leave office quietly. She was removed by Trump himself, in part because of reporting on her use of luxury government aircraft that Noem personally purchased during a government shutdown. The price tag for that shopping spree: up to $200 million across two jets, including the Gulfstream G700 and a Boeing 737 MAX 8 that Noem nicknamed the “Big Beautiful Jet,” complete with a queen bed, a bar, and showers.
The optics were catastrophic. The spending was indefensible. Noem was gone.
Mullin stepped in as the serious, sober alternative. The man who would restore order to a department that had become a symbol of MAGA excess and mismanagement.
He then proceeded to climb into the same jet and fly home every Thursday.
What the Flight Logs Show
This is rumor or speculation no longer. Flight logs reviewed by reporters show a consistent pattern: Mullin uses the Gulfstream G700 for regular trips to Oklahoma, departing Thursday mornings and returning Monday. DHS insiders, speaking to The Daily Mail, described a secretary who is disengaged from his duties, leaving components like ICE without clear direction, and whose staff is growing frustrated with his absence.
One DHS source was unsparing: “Mullin seems to think DHS requires less work than a senator, and it shows.”
That is a devastating line. It is also a revealing one. Mullin did spend years in the Senate, collecting a government paycheck and a government pension while the agency he now leads sat leaderless for long stretches of every week.
The Hearing That Went Off the Rails
On June 3rd, Mullin appeared before a House budget committee for his first public grilling on the subject. It did not go well.
Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia came prepared. He confronted Mullin directly, citing the flight logs, the $80 million jet, and the weekly pattern of Oklahoma departures.
“Have you used the Gulfstream jet to fly to Oklahoma, Mr. Secretary?” Walkinshaw asked.
Mullin tried to cut him off. Walkinshaw reclaimed his time. Mullin kept talking over him. Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino had to suspend the clock, bang his gavel repeatedly, and threaten to adjourn the entire hearing before the room settled down.
“I will adjourn this until everybody calms down!” Garbarino warned.
When Mullin finally answered the question, he confirmed everything.
“Of course I have,” he said. “I’m required to.”
He then added, apparently believing this helped his case, that he does not personally fly the jet because he is not a pilot.
When Walkinshaw pushed further, asking whether Mullin would commit to selling the luxury jets and redirecting the money toward housing allowances for DHS employees, the secretary declined without hesitation.
“Why do I need to sell them, sir? We need assets inside the Coast Guard.”
A $70 million Gulfstream with a queen bed and a bar is a perk. Mullin knows it.
The Wife Problem
The jet is also not the only issue. Insiders allege that Mullin has attempted to secure a government job for his wife within the Department of Homeland Security, placing her in a “special government employee” role. That allegation sits alongside the flight logs and the four-day workweek as part of a pattern that DHS staff say is corroding morale inside the department.
A DHS spokesperson called all of it “complete garbage,” insisting Mullin is fully engaged, works constantly, and adheres to all ethical requirements.
That response explains nothing. It does not address the flight logs. It does not explain the Thursday departures. It does not account for why ICE sources inside the department feel they are operating without leadership.
Calling allegations “complete garbage” is a press release. It is not a rebuttal.
The Standard He Accepted When He Took the Job
There is a straightforward test here. Kristi Noem used this jet and was removed. If that standard meant anything, it applies equally to the man who replaced her.
Mullin did not inherit a clean department with clear rules. He inherited a department under intense scrutiny, where the question of who uses government aircraft and how often was already a live political and ethical issue. He knew that when he took the job. He took the jet anyway.
The American taxpayer is now funding a $70 million weekend commuter service between Washington and a ranch in Oklahoma, run by a cabinet secretary whose own staff says he is not showing up.
That is the culture of MAGA entitlement Mullin was supposedly brought in to fix. He settled in and ordered the jet warmed up for Thursday morning instead.