Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is staying at a military base home usually occupied by the top Coast Guard official because she fears for her safety.
Noem, dubbed “ICE Barbie” for her love of cosplaying for the cameras in a variety of uniformed roles, has been staying at the usual residence of the Coast Guard commandant at the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., rent-free, sources told The Washington Post.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the Post that Noem decided to move on the base after the British tabloid The Daily Mail published photos of Noem‘s home. McLaughlin said Noem had been “so horribly doxxed and targeted that she is no longer able to safely live in her own apartment” but that Noem is still paying rent at her residence in the Navy Yard area of D.C.
McLaughlin said Noem’s safety fears are justified given that DHS is “going after the worst of the worst,” which she said includes “hundreds if not thousands of members of international cartels and terrorist organizations.”
In May, Noem announced that Admiral Kevin E. Lunday would be President Donald Trump’s pick for commandant of the Coast Guard. Lunday has not yet been confirmed by the Senate and is currently serving as acting commandant.
He is living near the D.C. military base where Noem is staying. It is unclear if she intends to move out once he is confirmed.
The home has been vacant since the Trump administration fired the previous Coast Guard commandant, Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, and evicted her in February.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security, has questioned why Noem—who earns around $200,000 a year and is estimated to be worth around $5 million, according to Forbes—is living rent-free in a home that should be awarded to top maritime officials.
“It’s a real insult to the brave men and women who are protecting our shores that she thinks that house belongs to her instead of to the Coast Guard,” Murphy told the Post.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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