Reuters / Joshua Roberts
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is getting around-the-clock security that could cost taxpayers $19.8 million through September of 2019, according to figures obtained by NBC News. No other Trump Cabinet member receives such extreme levels of armed protection, the network reports, but the Justice Department says the expensive request was granted due to “threats” aimed specifically at DeVos. The protection was granted in February 2017, a few days after DeVos was blocked by a handful of protesting parents and teachers from entering a school in Washington, D.C. “The order was issued after the Department of Education contacted administration officials regarding threats received by the secretary of Education,” the Justice Department said in a statement. The cost of the security was $5.3 million in fiscal year 2017 and $6.8 million for fiscal year 2018, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. The estimated cost for fiscal year 2019 is $7.74 million, making a total of $19.8 million if the protection continues to September 2019.