Betsy DeVos’ Federal Marshal Detail Costs $1M Monthly

WASHINGTON, DC — The federal government is spending about $1 million a month to provide enhanced protection for U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the western Michigan school choice advocate who is one of President Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks. DeVos is the only member of the Trump Cabinet to receive special protection from federal marshals, according to reports.

The U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement Friday that a threat to DeVos’ safety was detected shortly after her confirmation in February. The Education Department will reimburse the Marshals Service for $7.78 million under the agreement that assigns 20 marshals to protect DeVos from mid-February through September. The extra security will be provided for the next four years, but the cost beyond September is unclear.

DeVos was narrowly confirmed for the post after Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate earlier this year. She is the first Cabinet-level pick ever to require a tie-breaking vote for confirmation.

The threat was identified in February after DeVos was physically blocked by protesters when she tried to visit a Washington, D.C., middle school. Her confirmation has evoked the ire of public school advocates who worry her support for taxpayer-funded private school vouchers will lead to the decline of public schools.

DeVos has made a series of missteps since her confirmation, including facing widespread ridicule and scorn for a statement in February that called historically black colleges and universities school-choice pioneers. The HBCUs, as they’re known, were mainly established after the Civil War to fight Jim Crow-era racial exclusion.

“They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality,” she said at a meeting of HBUC leaders at the White House. “Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.”

On Thursday, DeVos faced an angry crowd in Florida when she toured the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences’ Simulation Teaching and Research Center at Florida International University. A proposal to invite DeVos to San Diego to showcase public school successes there was yanked from a school board agenda in February because of the “polarizing nature” of her nomination and confirmation.

Members of the in-house security team who have previously provided protection for education secretaries remain on the government payroll and have not been assigned to other duties, The Washington Post reported.

Federal marshals protect federal judges and guard Supreme Court justices and the deputy attorney general when they travel, but their main responsibilities are capturing fugitives, serving federal arrest warrants, transporting federal prisoners and overseeing the witness protection program.

The last time a Cabinet-level official received protection from the U.S. Marshals Service was in 2009, when the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy — at the time a Cabinet position — was guarded by federal marshals, The Post said.

Paul Scicchitano (Patch Staff) contributed to this report.

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