Overview
- An NBC report says Kristi Noem verbally directed the acting Coast Guard commandant in February 2025 to pull a C-130 from an active search for a missing 23-year-old guardsman so it could make a migrant transport flight, a claim DHS disputes by saying the plane “never left the search.”
- According to sources and data cited by ICE Flight Monitor, Coast Guard aircraft have been used for deportations at roughly ten times the previous rate under Noem, straining aviation units; DHS denies that migrant transport has been prioritized over search-and-rescue.
- Internal directives and accounts reported by outlets describe shifting mission priorities at some air stations, with counternarcotics and migrant transport elevated over search-and-rescue, deepening a rift between senior Coast Guard brass and DHS leadership.
- Current and former Coast Guard officials describe morale as “terrible,” citing incidents including a Wall Street Journal account that Noem’s adviser Corey Lewandowski berated and briefly fired a pilot over a missing heated blanket before reversing the decision.
- The Wall Street Journal also reported concerns over Lewandowski’s influence and an alleged close relationship with Noem; President Trump told reporters he had not heard about the relationship, as polling, bipartisan calls for her removal, and an impeachment push by 187 House Democrats add to the pressure.