Kristi Noem’s replacement at the Department of Homeland Security is taking heat for her living arrangements nearly two months after she was fired.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has been confronted over reports the former DHS secretary is still occupying a taxpayer-funded U.S. Coast Guard home long after President Donald Trump kicked her out of his Cabinet.
Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, penned a letter to Mullin demanding answers on the arrangement, which he notes was initially described as “temporary” though it now appears not to be.
“Kristi Noem got fired in March and she is still living rent-free in a government home that belongs to the Coast Guard,” Garcia, a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement on Friday. “The Trump Administration can’t explain why, nor do they seem to care.”
The home in Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling used to be occupied by Linda Fagan, the first female Coast Guard commandant, until she was fired by Trump a day after his inauguration. She was evicted by the DHS in February last year with just three hours’ notice.
Noem moved into the home in August, citing safety concerns after the Daily Mail published photos of her $3,750 per month, two-bed condo in D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood, which was located directly across from the building of her alleged lover and top aide Corey Lewandowski.
“This same administration threw out the Coast Guard Commandant with three hours of notice to make room for Noem, and even though she’s been fired from her government role, she won’t leave government housing,” Garcia said. “Secretary Mullin owes us answers and Noem must pack her bags and go.”
The White House, DHS, and a representative for Noem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his letter, Garcia demanded that Mullin provide documents related to Noem’s occupancy of the Coast Guard residence, including lease agreements and other contractual arrangements, as well as “any and all evidence of rental payments or reimbursements paid to the federal government by Kristi Noem or in the name of Kristi Noem in exchange for her residence at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.”
Garcia also ordered Mullin to turn over all memoranda or policies used to justify Noem’s use of the Coast Guard home after her termination in March.
“Ms. Noem’s occupation of the premises with no clear purpose or stated reason calls into question your own stewardship of DHS’s taxpayer-funded resources,” Garcia told Mullin.
Since becoming the first Cabinet member to get the axe under Trump 2.0, Noem has presumably been preoccupied with her made-up job as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a new drug-fighting initiative.
“Ms. Noem’s current employment as a special envoy for the ‘Shield of the Americas’ only raises further questions, as it is unclear why a Department of State employee should be housed in the Coast Guard commandant’s residence for months,” Garcia said. “In addition, outstanding questions about Ms. Noem’s use of the home—such as what, if any, rent she has paid—raise unresolved concerns of waste, fraud, and abuse during her tenure.”
