ICE’s Plan to Give Officers Electric Stun Gloves, and a Siege on Palestinian Homes

August 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Headlines: August 13th — No-Bid Plane Contracts, Stun Gloves for ICE, and a West Bank Siege

The Department of Homeland Security spent $464 million on a no-bid contract to buy 10 used airplanes last fall, claiming an urgent need for deportation flights. But according to an internal government document reviewed by the New York Times, the planes have barely flown. Three of the aircraft are luxury business jets, and the other seven have sat parked at an airport in Louisiana for months at a time. DHS didn't have the staff to operate them.

The Half-Billion Dollar Fleet That Never Deports

The plane purchase is a case study in how no-bid contracting has expanded under the second Trump administration. DHS said the need was so urgent there was no time to follow federal requirements for competing bids. The contract went to a company whose chairman had donated to a group supporting Christy Noem, who was Homeland Security Secretary until spring. A company spokesman said the chairman was unaware of the group's connections to Noem. Noem's spokeswoman put responsibility on the new DHS secretary, Mark Wayne Mullin, and DHS responded that the purchase was approved before Mullin was sworn in.

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of The Headlines

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (00:38) **Introduction & Top Story: No-Bid DHS Plane Contract** - Host Tracy Mumford introduces the episode's top story: a Times exclusive on a $464 million no-bid contract for used airplanes.
2 (02:57) **DHS Plans to Purchase Electric Stun Gloves** - DHS is planning to spend millions equipping immigration officers with a new, untested tool: gloves that deliver electric shocks.
3 (04:13) **Siege on Palestinian Homes in the West Bank** - Since Sunday, two Palestinian families in the village of Kusra have been trapped in their homes by Israeli settlers who have set up a tent in their front yard.
4 (06:43) **Global Impact: Shipping Standstill in Strait of Hormuz** - Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains at a near-standstill, with only a handful of oil tankers navigating the waterway in recent days.
5 (08:15) **Trend: The Rise of "Healthy Candy"** - Products marketed as "healthy candy," packing protein and fiber, are becoming ubiquitous in grocery stores and convenience stores.
6 Standout Quotes
7 "I didn't think about anything other than I wanted that thing to stop." - A police chief in Missouri, after being demoed on with a DHS-procured stun glove.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Plus, health candy?

Here’s what we’re covering:

Homeland Security Paid $464 Million for Airplanes. Then It Parked Them., by David A. Fahrenthold, Andrea Fuller, Julie Tate, Nicholas Nehamas and Hamed Aleaziz

ICE Plans to Give Officers Gloves That Can Deliver Electric Shocks, by Madeleine Ngo and Shaila Dewan

Settler Siege of Palestinian Homes Highlights Growing West Bank Chaos, by David M. Halbfinger, Fatima AbdulKarim and Natan Odenheimer

On These Motorcycles, the Thrill Is Truly Electric, by Chico Harlan and Zia ur-Rehman

Who Put Candy on a Diet?, by Ella Quittner

Tune in every weekday morning, and tell us what you think at: [email protected].

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.