Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has had around-the-clock security provided by the U.S. Marshals Service since she was confirmed in February 2017, a service that will cost taxpayers $19.8 million by September 2019, NBC News reported.
That figured far exceeds the $3.5 million Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt spent on security before he resigned over criticism of his lavish spending.
The Education Department — not DeVos personally — requested the security detail a few days after she was blocked from entering a Washington, D.C. middle school by protesters, according to NBC. The Justice Department told NBC that DeVos had received threats, the nature of which were unclear. A Education Department spokesperson told NBC that “it should be obvious that” the threats “are significant.”
The security from the Marshals Service — which currently does not protect any other Cabinet official and has only protected the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the past — cost $5.3 million in 2017 and $6.8 million this year. The service is projected to cost $7.4 million next fiscal year, NBC reported.
Read the full report here.