What was supposed to be a routine House budget hearing for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday turned into a chaotic, gavel-banging shouting match — all over a luxury jet, near-weekly trips to Oklahoma, and a Democratic congressman who came ready to fight.
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) wasted no time, confronting Mullin with flight logs showing the secretary regularly flies a Gulfstream G700 — one of two luxury aircraft purchased by his predecessor, Kristi Noem, for up to $200 million during a government shutdown — on what sources describe as near-weekly trips back to his home state.
“Have you used the Gulfstream jet to fly to Oklahoma, Mr. Secretary?” Walkinshaw asked pointedly. Mullin attempted to redirect. “Sir, under statute, I’m required to provide you —”
“To use the G700?” Walkinshaw cut back. “Okay. Thank you.” “No! No,” Mullin fired back. “You asked me a question, sir. Can I answer the question?”
The exchange spiraled rapidly from there. Walkinshaw repeatedly reclaimed his time. Mullin kept speaking over him. Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) suspended the clock and banged his gavel — loudly, and more than once — before issuing a blunt warning to both men.
“I will adjourn this until everybody calms down!” Garbarino declared, before adding: “We will not talk over each other.” Order temporarily restored, Mullin eventually confirmed what the flight records had already made clear.
“Of course I have,” he said of using the Gulfstream for Oklahoma trips. “I’m required to.” He then added, almost as an afterthought: “Well, actually, I don’t fly it personally myself — because I’m not a pilot.”
Walkinshaw pressed further, asking whether Mullin would commit to selling both Gulfstreams and the $70 million Boeing 737 MAX 8 — a jet Noem had personally nicknamed the “Big Beautiful Jet,” outfitted with a queen bed, bar, and showers — and redirect the proceeds toward housing allowances for DHS employees.
Mullin refused. “Why do I need to sell them, sir? We need assets inside the Coast Guard,” he said.
The hearing exposed what insiders say is a broader pattern of absence. Sources told The Daily Mail that Mullin routinely departs Washington on Thursday mornings and does not return until Monday, effectively managing the department remotely from his Oklahoma ranch. One DHS insider was unsparing in their assessment: “Mullin seems to think DHS requires less work than a senator, and it shows.”