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The secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security allegedly approved the purchase of Spirit Airline jets before learning that the airline did not truly possess the planes – and that the aircraft were missing engines.

This bizarre incident was contained in a report published on the end of the week, which described how the secretary and a former campaign manager had recently attempted to buy ten Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the pair intended to use the planes to expand removal flights – and for private use.

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

Immigration officials facing intense criticism after footage reportedly shows unresponsive individual clutching infant during detention.

Complicating matters further, Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in the summer, did not possess the aircraft and their engines would have had to be bought independently. The proposal has since been paused, 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 government shutdown, the DHS had already acquired two Gulfstream jets for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a federal shutdown, the United States Coast Guard entered into a single-source contract 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 taxpayer of $200m,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the DHS.

A department representative told the Journal that some details in the report about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but refused to offer further details.

The legislature had earlier authorized the so-called “major immigration bill” in the summer, which allocates roughly $170bn 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 September, it was revealed that the government was transporting individuals detained as part of its deportation agenda in ways that violated their legal rights, often by air.

Confidential information reviewed from charter airline Global Crossing outlined the journeys of thousands of immigrants who have been shuttled around the nation before deportation.