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The secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security allegedly authorized the purchase of Spirit Airlines jets before learning that the airline did not truly possess the planes – and that the planes were missing power plants.

This bizarre incident was detailed in a report published on Friday, which recounted how the secretary and a ex- campaign manager had recently attempted to purchase 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the two planned to use the jets to increase deportation flights – and for personal travel.

Those sources also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had warned them that buying planes would be far more expensive than simply expanding existing flight contracts.

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Making the situation more complex, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second instance in August, did not possess the jets and their engines would have had to be bought separately. The proposal has since been paused, according to the report.

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

“It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a government shutdown, the United States Coast Guard signed a single-source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace to procure two new G700 luxury aircraft to facilitate travel for you and the deputy, at a cost to the public of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the department.

A department representative told the Journal that parts of its reporting about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but declined to provide further details.

The legislature had earlier approved the so-called “major immigration bill” in July, 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 US government.

In the autumn, it was revealed that the administration was moving individuals held as part of its deportation agenda in ways that breached their legal rights, often by air.

Confidential information examined from charter airline GlobalX detailed the travels of thousands of immigrants who have been transported around the nation before deportation.