The chief executives of Walmart and Target privately warned President Trump this week that his sweeping tariff policy could disrupt supply chains and lead to empty shelves in the coming weeks, sources familiar with the White House meeting told CBS News.

The CEO of Home Depot was also present at Monday’s closed-door meeting. Axios was first to report on the retail executives’ warnings to Mr. Trump.

Target and Walmart declined to comment on the specific warnings.

Following their meeting with Mr. Trump on Monday, both companies did issue statements.

“We had a productive meeting with President Trump and his team and appreciated the opportunity to share our insights,” Walmart said in a statement.

Target, in a similar statement, said “we had a productive meeting with President Trump and our retail peers to discuss the path forward on trade, and we remain committed to delivering value for American consumers.”

The two retailers have publicly warned that Mr. Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher prices. Weeks after Mr. Trump’s election win, Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC, “We never want to raise prices,” but “there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers.” 

And last month, Target CEO Brian Cornell told CNBC, “the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days” from tariffs planned on imports from Mexico, noting Target heavily relies on Mexican produce to stock its grocery shelves in the winter.

The Trump administration has imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and 10% tariffs on most other countries. Mr. Trump also announced steep “reciprocal tariffs” on dozens of other U.S. trading partners earlier this month, but paused most of the non-China levies for 90 days. 

The import duties have rattled markets in recent weeks and prompted fears about rising consumer prices, slower economic growth and supply chain shortfalls. The Trump administration has considered forming a working group to handle any strains on supply chains caused by the China tariffs, CBS News reported last week.

Mr. Trump has stood by his tariff strategy, casting it as a way to boost U.S. manufacturing and stymie what he views as unfair trade practices — but he has indicated he would like to negotiate new trade deals with other countries. The president told reporters Tuesday he expects the 145% China tariffs to “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin announced Wednesday morning he is retiring and will not run for reelection in 2026.

In a video posted to X, Durbin said, “I truly love the job of being a United States senator, but in my heart I know it is time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today I will not be seeking reelection at the end of my term,” Durbin said in a video posted to his social media accounts.

When he finishes his current term, Durbin will be tied with former Illinois Sen. Shelby Collum, who served from 1883 to 1913, as the longest-serving U.S. senator in Illinois history. 

Durbin, 80, expressed his gratitude to the people of Illinois for electing him to the Senate for so many years, and said he was honored by the responsibility bestowed on him. 

“Right now the challenges facing our country are historic and unprecedented,” he continued. “The threats to our democracy and our way of life are very real, and I can assure you, I’ll do everything in my power to fight for Illinois and the future of our country every day of my remaining time in the Senate.”

Durbin called his fellow Illinois senator, Tammy Duckworth, a “trusted friend and effective leader,” and said she will be a “real asset” to the state and the nation as Illinois’ next senior senator. 

Durbin is the senior senator for Illinois. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, filling the seat left vacant by longtime Sen. Paul Simon.

He is the 5th most senior member of the Senate, and also serves at the Senate Democratic Whip, the second-highest ranking position for the party in the Senate. He was first elected to this leadership post by Senate Democrats in 2005, and has been reelected to it every two years since.

Durbin is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Committee and the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. His retirement is expected to serve as the impetus for a broader shakeup of the Democratic Senate leadership.

He introduced the Dream Act, which would give undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and grew up here a path to citizenship, in 2001 alongside Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). He was also a force behind the establishment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Program, or DACA, created by President Barack Obama in 2012.

He also championed the First Step Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in 2018, a bipartisan criminal justice bill that reformed sentencing laws and provided more opportunities for incarcerated people to re-enter society upon their release.

Durbin and his wife, Loretta Schaefer Durbin, live in Springfield, Illinois. He has three children – Paul, Jennifer and Christine, his oldest daughter who died in 2008 from complications from a congenital heart condition. 

While no one has officially signaled their intentions to toss their names into the ring for Durbin’s seat, some of the Illinois politicians most often talked about as a potential replacements include 14th District U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and 8th District U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.  

Colleagues pay tribute to Durbin’s career

A number of legislators took time Wednesday morning to share tributes to Durbin’s long career in politics.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a fellow Democrat, praised Durbin “for his exemplary career of public service as well as the profound and lasting positive impact he’s had on Illinois families and our nation.” He added:

“Known for his legendary work ethic, Senator Durbin has led the fight to expand access to affordable health care, invest in our state’s infrastructure, tackle gun violence, defend Dreamers, improve public health, protect working families, and more. His expert leadership on the Senate Judiciary Committee ensured the confirmation of a record 235 federal judges, shaping the courts and securing our most fundamental American rights for many years to come.”

Speaking at an event in Decatur, Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker honored Durbin, saying, “Let’s all recognize someone serving us for decades in Washington D.C., representing the state of Illinois with enormous integrity and honor, is something we should all appreciate no matter what political party someone belongs to.”

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said Durbin “has given Illinois a lifetime of principled leadership — grounded in decency, driven by purpose, and always guided by the people he served,” and added “Illinois is stronger because of him and the work he’s championed will carry on.”

Rep. Delia Ramirez, a colleague and fellow Democrat, called Durbin a “trusted leader, a mentor to many, and a champion for working people in Illinois.” 

“As he announces his much-deserved retirement, I am feeling thankful for his work and service to the people of Illinois and our nation,” she wrote. “Thank you, Senator, for the opportunity to learn from you and partner with you on so many important issues. As the proud daughter of immigrants, the spouse of a Dreamer, and the Congresswoman of IL-03, I also extend my deepest gratitude for your unwavering commitment to defending our immigrant communities.” 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson thanked Durbin for “over 40 years of fighting for the people of Illinois.” He called him a “principled and pragmatic leader,” praised his bipartisanship and his work in the senate.

“Time and time again, he delivered real results to the working people of Chicago – investing in our airports and our train stations, defending Dreamers and immigrants, and fighting to end gun violence. He was a champion for young children and early childhood education, and he fought for mental health services for our young people,” Johnson said in a statement. “Our city, our state, and our country are stronger due to his decades of service.”

Former President Barack Obama, who served alongside Durbin in the Senate before his presidential run, also released a statement on the decision, writing, “As an Illinois voter, I couldn’t be prouder that our senator for the last 28 years has been one of the finest in the country. Dick Durbin has always fought the good fight on behalf of working families, and his integrity shines through in everything he does.”

With Durbin vacating his Senate seat, many prominent Democrats are expected to throw their hat in the ring. CBS News Chicago Political Analyst and former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it’s not impossible that a Republican could win the seat.

“I think that is a very remote possibility, given the nature of electorate here in Illinois, but I will sound a cautionary note. President Trump did very well not only across Illinois south of I-80, but made inroads in Cook County and DuPage County, and quite frankly did better than expected in the city of Chicago,” she said.

Political scientist and professor Stephen Caliendo said November 2026 really isn’t far away, and the race for campaign money has really already started. He believes several members of Congress from Illinois could run, with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi holding a huge fundraising lead, with more than $18 million on hand in his campaign fund.

“He’s been hoarding money for some time, and the others have been in a little bit tighter races for their seats, so they’ve had to spend a little bit more in recent campaigns, but he’s been collecting money and certainly the suggestion would be that he was desiring a higher office,” Caliendo said.

Rep. Lauren Underwood has more than $1 million available in her campaign fund after raising nearly $400,000 between January and March, mostly from individual contributions. Rep. Robin Kelly has more than $2 million I her campaign fund, after raising more than $185,000 between January and March, also nearly all of it from individual contributions.

Stratton also is considered a likely Senate candidate now that Durbin is retiring. She has less than $100,000 in her campaign fund, but can’t use it for a Senate race since the money was raised for a state race, not a federal race. However, she could potentially get significant financial backing from Pritzker, a billionaire who hasn’t been shy about spending big to support political allies.

Carol Thompson and

Kaia Hubbard

contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources told CBS News. 

The price tag for the project was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures. 

“Changes and upgrades to the Pentagon Briefing Room are nothing new and routinely happen during changes in an administration,” a Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News. 

Hegseth, before becoming defense secretary, was a morning show co-host on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Weekend.” Since his nomination, he has vowed to emphasize improvements in the armed forces’ warfighting abilities and military readiness.

An in-house construction crew renovated the adjacent green room earlier this year. The room previously had minimal furnishings — a table with chairs, a TV, photos of former defense secretaries and a mirror on the back of the door, one source said.

The table was removed and a new chair and large mirror with makeup lighting was installed, another source said. 

The suggestion for improving the space came from Tami Radabaugh, the deputy assistant to the secretary for strategic engagement and a former producer for Fox News and for CBS News, according to multiple sources. The chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, and the defense secretary’s wife, Jennifer Hegseth, also a former Fox producer, expressed their approval for the upgrade before it was undertaken, one of the sources said. 

The Defense Department spokesperson said the green room will be available to senior leaders and VIPs prior to press engagements.

The new items, including a director’s chair, came from existing inventories, the spokesperson said. A new countertop was constructed by facilities services staff. 

“For this upgrade we were deliberately conservative and opted for several less expensive, on-hand materiel solutions,” the spokesperson said. 

Hegseth hasn’t used the press room to brief reporters. But it has been a set for his TV appearances, including one with Fox this week in which he blamed the media and former Defense Department employees for the revelation that he sent sensitive details about military strikes in a Signal group chat that he created. 

He did not deny news reports that he shared real-time operational information with family members before strikes in Yemen were carried out. He didn’t explain why his wife, who is not a Defense Department employee, was in the text chat. That was the second Signal group with whom Hegseth shared planning details about the Houthi airstrikes, which took place in mid-March. The first Signal chat, a principals group which comprised top national security officials, was created by national security adviser Michael Waltz, and its existence was exposed by Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to the group in error by Waltz.

Hegseth claims he did not disclose classified information in either of the chat groups. The Defense Department acting inspector general is reviewing his disclosures. 

“We’re focused on recruiting, on rooting out DEI, on securing our southwest border, on the president’s agenda, and it’s going very well at the Pentagon, and I’m proud of it,” Hegseth said Tuesday on Fox. 

The Pentagon restricted access to its briefing room on Feb. 21, barring reporters unless officials were speaking. Previously, press could use the room, one of the few places they could connect to Wi-Fi in the secure building, to file stories and to conduct on-camera reports.

Washington — Sen. Dick Durbin announced Wednesday he won’t seek reelection in 2026, kickstarting a race for his long-held seat representing Illinois — and a broader shakeup of Democratic leadership in the Senate.

Durbin, 80, has served since 2005 as the Democratic whip, the second-ranking position in Democratic leadership. First under former Democratic leader Harry Reid and now under Chuck Schumer, the Illinois Democrat has shepherded the caucus through votes, while being a prominent voice on the leadership team for two decades.

After the 2026 elections, the whip position will be up for grabs. And the announcement has spurred whispers about a possible successor. 

Sen. Brian Schatz’s name has been floated as being among the list of Democrats who could take up the mantle. Schatz has represented Hawaii in the Senate since 2012, and currently serves as chief deputy whip. Schatz celebrated Durbin’s career in a statement Wednesday, calling the Illinois Democrat a “mentor and friend.”  

Other members of the Senate Democratic leadership could also vie for the No. 2 post. The caucus elevated Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota to the No. 3 position in Senate leadership in the last internal elections, along with Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey to the fourth-ranking post. Both are possible candidates for the whip role, though they each sought the Democratic nomination for the White House in 2020, and could have ambitions beyond the Senate in 2028. The caucus conducts leadership elections behind closed doors before the start of each new Congress. 

Durbin’s retirement also opens up the coveted top Democratic spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he’s been the top Democrat since 2021. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, is widely expected to take his place at the top of the panel. 

The Illinois Democrat’s announcement of his planned departure comes months after the bruising 2024 election, where Democrats lost power in the White House and the Senate — leading some members of the party to call for a new generation of leadership to come forward. And a broader shakeup remains possible, especially as questions about Schumer’s leadership have continued to swirl, though they’ve died down considerably in recent weeks. 

Facing the threat of a government shutdown in March, Schumer, who’s led the caucus since 2017, delivered one of the Democratic votes necessary to propel a GOP-led funding measure to passage after he had initially pledged to oppose it. The move prompted intense frustration among his party, but Schumer has repeatedly defended his decision, arguing that a shutdown would have been worse than the funding measure for the nation, delivering sole power to the executive branch. 

Democrats had widely opposed the measure and expressed frustration with its spending reductions, while warning that it would give the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency even more latitude to carry out cost-slashing efforts. Some progressives suggested that a shutdown was a better alternative, while others simply took issue with Schumer’s changing stance. But in the end, nine Democrats and independents also voted to advance the measure, including Schumer’s No. 2, Durbin — and Schatz.

As attention is now turning to Senate Democratic leadership, Senate Republicans elected a new slate after the 2024 elections, tapping Sen. John Thune to lead the conference after Sen. Mitch McConnell opted to step down after 17 years at the helm.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the Trump administration has an “opportunity for a big deal” on trade between the U.S. and China, providing a hint that a brutal tariff war between the two nations could ease up.

Bessent, who delivered the keynote address at the Institute of International Finance in Washington, D.C., today, said that the Trump administration wants the U.S. economy to rebalance toward more manufacturing, while urging China to shift away from what he called “export-led manufacturing growth.”

“China needs to change. The country knows it needs to change. Everyone knows it needs to change. And we want to help it change — because we need rebalancing too,” Bessent said in the speech. 

Beijing’s export-reliant economic model is “unsustainable” and harms both China and the rest of the world, Bessent added. At the same time, the Treasury chief maintained that “America First does not mean America alone,” a comment that comes after the Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration is considering slashing tariffs on China to de-escalate tensions between the two largest global economies.

The stock market rose sharply on Wednesday following news that the trade war could cool off, and after President Trump said he has no plans to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Earlier this month, China hiked its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%, matching the level of tariffs that President Trump has placed on Chinese imports — although those import taxes can rise as high as 145% for some products from China. 

Bessent made it clear in his speech that the Trump administration wants to see changes in China’s export-based economy. 

“It’s an unsustainable model that is not only harming China but the entire world,” Bessent said in a Washington speech, stressing concerns around trade imbalances that Mr. Trump says he hopes to address through sweeping tariffs.

IMF, World Bank

In the same speech, Bessent also said the International Monetary Fund and World Bank need to be made “fit for purpose” again, and added that both institutions have strayed from their initial missions.

The IMF “has no obligation to lend to countries that fail to implement reforms,” Bessent said. “Economic stability and growth should be the markers of the IMF’s success — not how much money the institution lends out.”

He added that the World Bank should also “no longer expect blank checks for vapid, buzzword-centric marketing accompanied by half-hearted commitments to reform.”

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

A 19-year-old U.S. citizen arrested by Customs and Border Protection agents earlier this month in Arizona and briefly prosecuted for illegal entry into the U.S. has intellectual disabilities, his family told CBS News.

Jose Hermosillo was arrested on April 8 by CBP in Tucson and detained for 10 days. His family provided documentation proving his American citizenship, days after being taken into custody, according to court records and Department of Homeland Security assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security argued his arrest, which has attracted national attention, was a “direct result of his own actions and statements.” A DHS spokesperson said Hermosillo approached a Border Patrol agent, said he had entered the U.S. illegally and identified himself as a Mexican citizen.

The department also posted a copy of Hermosillo’s sworn statement on X in which Hermosillo responded “yes” when asked if he had entered the U.S. illegally. The document shows a child-like signature that reads “Jose.”

In a phone interview Tuesday, Hermosillo’s parents told CBS News their son suffers from intellectual disabilities, cannot read or write and has trouble speaking. They said he could not have possibly known what he was signing when he was detained.   

“He’s never been able to read and was always in special education classes in school,” Guadalupe Hermosillo, Hermosillo’s mother, said in Spanish. 

According to his family, Hermosillo lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but was in Tucson earlier this month visiting his girlfriend’s family. He left his girlfriend’s relative’s home and wandered away during the night, and it was during this walk that Hermosillo was detained by CBP, his parents said.

Details of the arrest remain unclear. The initial April 9 criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Arizona by a Border Patrol agent says Hermosillo was found “at or near Nogales, Arizona without the proper immigration documents.” The document referred to Hermosillo as an “alien” and charged him with “improper entry,” a misdemeanor offense.

But DHS later stated that he was arrested in Tucson. According to court documents, Hermosillo told the judge he was a U.S. citizen during his first appearance. A day later, Hermosillo’s U.S. birth certificate was made available to the judge. 

When CBS News spoke with Hermosillo, he appeared to be distraught and confused. He said he cried every night at the detention center, describing it as a very cold place filled with sick people who were constantly coughing. 

“When I sleep, I dream that I’m still detained,” Hermosillo said over the phone in Spanish. 

Representatives for DHS did not immediately respond to a CBS News request to comment on the allegations by Hermosillo and his parents, including about his intellectual disabilities.  

Hermosillo’s mother said she was hospitalized after her son was detained because of the stress it caused.

“I cried every day,” she said. “I just wanted them to let him go.”

Jesus Hermosillo, Jose’s father, told CBS News he received a call from an immigration official asking to confirm whether Jose was a U.S. citizen. He said he told the officials his son was born in Albuquerque. 

The Hermosillo family was able to locate their son at a detention center in Florence, Arizona. On April 17, a Tucson magistrate judge dismissed Hermosillo’s criminal case. He was released the next day. 

CBS News has reached out to the court-appointed lawyer who represented Hermosillo. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said her office is looking into his case. 

“My office has reached out to ICE for answers on how this was allowed to happen to an American citizen. It is wholly unacceptable to wrongfully detain U.S. citizens,” Mayes wrote on X. 

Two years ago, Kash Patel emerged as a vocal critic of then-FBI Director Christopher Wray for his use of the government’s fleet of private aircraft for personal travel.

The FBI should “ground Chris Wray’s private jet that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to hop around the country,” Patel said during his “Kash’s Corner” podcast in 2023.

Now, Patel himself is the director, and questions have begun circulating inside the FBI about the degree to which Patel is using governmental airplanes for his personal travels.

The FBI declined to share Patel’s flight schedule and would not confirm his presence on a number of flights to destinations where he later appeared. During the first weekend in April, for instance, a Boeing 757 owned by the Department of Justice made two round trip flights from Washington to New York.

On Saturday, April 5, the narrow-body jet took a 57-minute flight to Stewart International Airport, a short drive from West Point, where Patel made an appearance at a charity hockey event hosted by the FBI. The next day, the jet was back in the air to JFK Airport, landing just hours before Patel resurfaced in box seats next to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and watched Capitals star Alex Ovechkin break the NHL scoring record.

The New York Times first reported on Patel’s use of FBI aircraft on Sunday.  

It’s unclear if Patel was on these flights — and if he was, whether they were purely personal, work related, or both. But on Monday, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee told CBS News in a statement that he wants the answer to those questions.

“The Judiciary Committee must investigate Director Patel’s apparent misuse of taxpayer dollars,” said U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois. “The American people expect an FBI Director who focuses on the security and safety of the nation, not someone wrapped up in the trappings of the spotlight.”

FBI directors are required by executive branch policy to use government aircraft for air travel, whether official or personal. That enables them to maintain access to secure communications wherever they travel. And it gives the director the ability to move quickly in an emergency.

If the travel is personal, the director must reimburse the government the cost of a commercial coach airfare. When traveling for personal reasons, the director may bring family or friends, but guest travel must be reimbursed to the government as well. Friends or family members are never allowed to fly on FBI aircraft unaccompanied by the director. It is unclear whether Patel has brought friends or family aboard government jets.  

But Durbin said the use of the plane still has limits and questioned whether the use of the aircraft cut against the Trump administration’s professed commitment to rooting out government waste.

Patel’s use of Gulfstream jets operated by the FBI appears to extend to his frequent trips to Las Vegas, where he has a home, and to Nashville, where Patel’s girlfriend, who is a country singer, lives. Sources familiar with Patel’s travel confirmed to CBS News that the director was on the plane for several trips captured by FlightRadar24, including a weekend dash to Las Vegas on March 7 and a weekend in Nashville on March 14.

It is unclear if he was aboard on Feb. 24, when one of the FBI’s Gulfstream 5 jets flew from Manassas, Virginia, where the plane is based, to Nashville, stayed on the ground for an hour and 27 minutes before returning to Manassas.

On some occasions, Patel may have traveled for both pleasure and business. An FBI jet flew on March 21 from Washington to Nashville. That day, Patel attended a roundtable meeting with state and local law enforcement officials in Tennessee, and also visited the FBI field office in Nashville. The plane returned to Washington later that afternoon. It is unclear whether he saw Alexis Wilkins, his girlfriend, while he was there.

In a statement to CBS News, the FBI said it “does not comment on travel arrangements for security purposes. All ethical guidelines are followed rigorously.”

Some bureau veterans told CBS News they have been troubled by the frequent use of government aircraft by FBI executives, making the aircraft less available to support operations in line with the primary mission of investigating crimes, chasing spies and preventing terrorist attacks.

“Those aircraft have been procured or leased specifically to support operational needs,” said Christopher O’Leary, a former senior counterterrorism official at the FBI who has used the planes dozens of times for sensitive missions and critical response. “The concern is that the routine use of them by the director and deputy director for personal travel could take a critical resource offline when they are sometimes needed at a moment’s notice.”

O’Leary and others said they also worry that the use of the planes sets the wrong tone.

“It’s a bad leadership example,” he told CBS News. “All agents are provided an FBI vehicle, and they cannot be used for personal use.  They can only be used for going to and from work, for official duties or to respond to a crisis and that is strictly enforced.” 

Congressional watchdog advised limits on personal jet travel

In 2013, the Government Accountability Office probed the Justice Department’s and the FBI’s use of the FBI G5 jets for “non-mission purposes.” The report that followed laid out how often and for what reasons the planes were used by the attorney general and the FBI director, the costs associated with the flights and the rules and regulations governing them. At the time, the GAO did not find any specific instances of wrongdoing, although it did emphasize the importance of officials being responsible stewards of taxpayer funds when using the planes. 

Diana Maurer, a director at GAO and author of the 2013 report, told CBS News that the same principles that were at play when the congressional watchdog agency did its review remain relevant today.

“I don’t know what the current FBI director did or didn’t do, and we haven’t updated our 2013 report,” Mauer said in an interview.  “But just because you’re allowed to do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should.” 

Maurer noted that government officials should not abuse their privileges at the expense of the taxpayer. 

“Using government aircraft, as FBI Directors are required to do for security reasons, costs significantly more than commercial flights. I hope the FBI and the Department of Justice are considering the implications for taxpayers when the Director uses government aircraft for non-mission purposes.”

Past FBI directors faced scrutiny

During the years that Wray ran the FBI, his personal use of the jet became a touchstone for conservative critics. Wray occasionally flew from Washington to his hometown of Atlanta, where his family maintained its residence. He drew criticism from Republicans in Congress and some former FBI agents for summoning the G5s to Reagan National Airport from Manassas, a 15-minute flight, rather than being driven 30 miles to the Virginia airport where it maintains a hangar. 

FBI whistleblower Steven Friend, a close ally of Patel’s who was suspended by the bureau over concerns that his views on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol affected his work, criticized Wray in more than a dozen social media posts for his use of the jets. “Chris Wray abuses his  @FBI jet privileges because he doesn’t like to sit in traffic,” Friend wrote in a Dec. 14, 2023, tweet. 

Wray was also raked over the coals by Republican lawmakers for cutting short a Senate oversight hearing in 2023 to fly on an FBI aircraft to a family vacation in the Adirondacks. (Wray at the time pointed out that he had negotiated the length of the hearing with committee staff.) The chairman of the committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, later questioned Wray’s use of the FBI jets and whether it amounted to an abuse of taxpayer money, a suggestion that Wray rejected, noting that he was a “required use traveler,” and that he reimbursed the government in every instance he used the planes for personal purposes. 

A spokesperson for Grassley said the senator is “still waiting on the FBI” for records regarding Wray’s use of the jets and criticized Democrats and the media, claiming they never showed “any interest in scrutinizing FBI Directors’ travel logs until Kash Patel came on the scene.” Grassley’s office did not respond to a question about whether the senator would continue his oversight of FBI directors’ government jet travel while Patel is director.

FBI directors have also at times been sensitive about the potential misuses of the FBI’s fleet. In at least one case, a former FBI director went to extraordinary lengths to save the taxpayer money for his air travel. 

Soon after he became FBI director in 2013, James Comey traveled back and forth to Connecticut where his family was still living. At the time, Washington was in the midst of a heated budget battle with the possibility that government workers would be furloughed and have their paychecks withheld. So, according to two former law enforcement officials, Comey asked President Barack Obama for a special dispensation from the “required use” rule so that he could fly commercial at a much lower cost to the government.