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The secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security reportedly approved the purchase of Spirit Airlines jets before discovering that the carrier did not truly possess the aircraft – and that the aircraft lacked engines.

This strange incident was detailed in a investigation published on the end of the week, which described how the official and a ex- campaign manager had recently arranged to buy 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the pair intended to use the jets to expand deportation flights – and for personal travel.

Those sources also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had warned them that purchasing aircraft would be significantly costlier than simply increasing current charter agreements.

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Complicating matters further, the airline, which entered bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in the summer, did not possess the jets and their engines would have had to be acquired independently. The proposal has since been halted, according to the investigation.

In the interim, Democratic lawmakers on the House appropriations committee said in the autumn that during this season's historically lengthy federal shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security had already purchased two Gulfstream jets for $200 million.

“It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a federal shutdown, the US Coast Guard entered into a sole source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace to acquire two new G700 luxury aircraft to facilitate travel for the secretary and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the public of $200m,” Democratic representatives 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 provide further details.

Congress had previously authorized the so-called “big, beautiful bill” in the summer, which allocates roughly $170bn for immigration-related and border-related operations, a amount that makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most heavily funded federal agency in the US government.

In September, it was reported that the administration was transporting individuals held as part of its deportation agenda in ways that violated their constitutionally protected rights, often by plane.

Leaked data reviewed from private airline Global Crossing outlined the travels of tens of thousands of immigrants who have been shuttled around the country before removal.