The U.S Marshals Service is providing unprecedented protective detail to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and the added security will be costing her agency almost $1 million per month, the marshals service said Friday.
The stepped up security began in February, following a threat assessment ordered by the U.S. Attorney General, the marshals service said. The agency only said it determined a threat to her safety exists, and did not elaborate.
Under an agreement between the marshals service and the Department of Education, the education department will reimburse the marshals service $7.78 million for security for the nearly eight months from Feb. 13 through September, and the protection will continue for the next four years.
If the current reimbursement rate remains the same, that totals to around $1 million per month.
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No other cabinet-level official is being guarded by federal marshals and the last time that happened was in 2009 for the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which is no longer a cabinet-level job, said Drew Wade, spokesman for the U.S Marshal's Office.
The Washington Post first reported the security detail and dollar amounts involved.
Another spokesperson for the marshals service, Lynzey Donahue, said the agency is unaware of the marshals service providing a protective detail for an Education Secretary in the past.
Related: Why Betsy DeVos Iis Riling Up Education Advocates
DeVos' nomination was controversial not only in Congress but by parents and teachers who protested across the nation. She was narrowly confirmed after Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate for the first time in congressional history.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos waits for President Donald Trump to arrive to sign various bills in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, in Washington on March 27, 2017. Andrew Harnik / AP, file
Previously, members of an in-house security team guard the secretary, and those individuals remain on the payroll but have not been assigned new duties, the Washington Post reported.
Meanwhile, the Marshals Service is hiring nearly two dozen people specifically to guard DeVos, the Washington Post reports.
Related: Parents of Transgender Kids Meet With Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
The Department of Education did not return requests for comment by NBC News Friday.
While the extra expense may be a pittance compared to the department's overall budget of more than $68 billion, it comes amid proposed cuts for the department by President Donald Trump, whose budget seeks a funding reduction of 13 percent. Congress approves the budget, and it could be changed.
In its FY 2017 budget, the department requested for 296 more full-time employees as well as "personnel compensation and benefits increases, including a proposed 1.6 percent pay raise in 2017."
93devil on April 9th, 2017 at 00:14 UTC »
Those damn grizzly bears again.
Effimero89 on April 8th, 2017 at 18:47 UTC »
Why the fuck does everyone need a seal team 6 around them. The first family makes sense but who gives a shit about devos. Would anyone really recognize her?
dcmfox on April 8th, 2017 at 18:35 UTC »
A billionaire who has a brother that started blackwater and she needs the tax payer to protect her..something is just fucked up about that