Six staffers for one of Capitol Hill’s most outspoken deficit hawks traveled by private jet as part of a bipartisan congressional investigation into the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump — costing taxpayers nearly $18,000.
The aides for Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, then the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and now the chair, flew in a chartered plane from Washington to Pittsburgh in the days after Trump was shot at a campaign rally in nearby Butler, Pennsylvania, according to Senate expenditure records reviewed by POLITICO.
The $17,827 flight, billed to New Flight Solutions Inc., constituted over 18% of the total amount the committee spent on travel and transportation between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2024. It came as other staffers on the committee secured travel accommodations for a fraction of that price — by driving or flying commercial — to investigate whether the Secret Service could have done more to protect Trump from a rogue gunman.
Traveling to Butler by car from Washington can take as little as five hours, while a direct flight is just over an hour.
Hiring a private jet for committee business is not against Senate rules, but it stands in stark contrast to Paul’s reputation as a fiscal conservative whose crusade against out-of-control federal spending and perceived government waste has repeatedly put him at odds with members of his own party.
It also fits a pattern Paul has shown over the years of spending lavishly on travel, both through his personal office and accounts linked to his Senate campaign and leadership PAC — all while routinely voting against government funding legislation and grinding legislative business to a halt in protest of bills that would add to the debt.
A Paul spokesperson defended the use of the private plane in a statement.
“The Committee launched a year-long investigation into the Secret Service failures that let the attack happen, which included several trips to talk to participants and visit the scene,” said the spokesperson, Drew Carmichael.
“This was the most efficient and effective means for the entire investigative team to participate in the investigative activities that day and followed all Senate rules and regulations,” he said, adding that there was “careful consideration of all available options.”
A spokesperson for New Flight Solutions did not respond to a request for comment.
An aide to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who was at that time the committee chair, spent less than $700 to travel to Butler for the same fact-finding trip. Aides for the top Democrat and Republican on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations — Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — spent just over $900 and less than $700 on travel, respectively.
Two of Peters’ senior staffers each traveled on commercial flights to Pittsburgh for the same trip for under $400 each, Senate records show.
“Senator Peters is committed to the responsible use of taxpayer dollars, and staff used commercial air or standard ground transportation while conducting the bipartisan investigation,” a Peters spokesperson said in a statement.
Spokespeople for Blumenthal and Johnson declined to comment.
Carmichael would not answer specific questions about why Paul’s office believed flying private for a relatively short journey was the most cost-effective option, and what efforts were made, if any, to find a cheaper mode of transportation.
He also would not say whether Paul personally signed off on the arrangements or if the senator traveled on the charter plane along with his staff. The official roster of travelers listed in the Senate expenditure report included his staff director, chief counsel, research assistant, operations director, press assistant and professional staff member.
One former longtime investigative staffer for a House committee, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said of the private plane expense, “I’ve never done that, and I haven’t heard of a similar situation before.”
An ex-Trump administration official familiar with congressional travel logistics, also granted anonymity to speak freely, agreed it was “highly irregular for a private jet to be used by any committee staff.”
The official added, “They would have to come up with a significant justification for any sensitive matter and it would need to be highly defendable. Oversight shouldn’t create its own oversight.”
Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committee staff went to Butler on July 26, 2024 for a walk-through of the Butler Farm Show grounds — where Trump was delivering a speech at the time of the attack — and the adjacent American Glass Research building — where Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by authorities at the scene, climbed up to the roof and fired eight rounds from an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
Staffers received briefings from local law enforcement officials who supported the Secret Service at the July 13 rally where Trump was targeted. They also interviewed four local law enforcement officers who provided backup, two people who attended the rally and the president of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, of which Crooks was a member.
The findings of the investigation were included in a bipartisan interim report released that fall.
Carmichael, in defending the use of the private jet, said in his statement that “the results of this thorough investigation speak for themselves.”
But using taxpayer dollars for staff to use private planes should rise to the level of scrutiny, said Kedric Payne, vice president of the Campaign Legal Center.
“Congressional ethics rules allow the use of official funds for official travel, but it is very rare for such expenses to include private airfare for staff,” Payne said in a statement. “Private jet travel for staff raises many questions, and if this happened, the lawmakers involved owe taxpayers answers.”
Paul also has a history of using private planes for official travel through his personal Senate office, though those flights — unlike the Pittsburgh flight — appeared to allow him to travel to multiple cities in his home state that are not conveniently served by commercial flights.
According to Senate expenditure records, Paul arranged a trip in mid-October 2024 through New Flight Solutions, a company that also does business as New Flight Charters, costing taxpayers $17,847. The line item states that Paul began his journey in his hometown of Bowling Green and from there went to Henderson, Marion, Calvert City, Paducah, Fulton and back — all cities in Kentucky.
Paul arranged for a $24,371 private jet to take him later that same month to other parts of the state — from Bowling Green to London, Middlesboro, Harlan, Prestonburg, Pikeville, Jackson, Ashland, Maysville and Mount Sterling.
In early June 2025, his office listed an expenditure for a New Flights Charters plane for a Kentucky trip coming out to $4,732 for Paul’s transportation and for three staffers to fly private for a total of $14,198 from Bowling Green to Somerset to London and on to Washington.
Later in the month, another charge of $13,351 is listed for Paul to travel from Bowling Green to Frederick, Maryland. In late September 2025, he flew on a charter plane from Bowling Green to Ashland for $6,990.
In a statement, Carmichael explained that “Senator Paul strives to visit as much of Kentucky as possible and meet with as many constituents as he can during state work periods. One way to accomplish this is by helping him travel between locations more quickly, allowing him to attend more events and spend more time engaging directly with constituents.”
He also defended Paul’s stewardship of taxpayer dollars: “Senator Paul has returned more than $9.2 million from his official office budget to the U.S. Treasury,” Carmichael said.
Paul has also come under scrutiny in the past for his spending through non-official channels. His campaign committee and leadership PAC combined has, since 2012, spent more than $113,000 on private jets through New Flight Solutions.
He spent tens of thousands of campaign dollars on hotels, restaurants and travel on a fundraising trip in Europe, the Kentucky Lantern reported in 2024.
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