Via WaPo: Kristi Noem is living rent-free in home used by Coast Guard commandant.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem is living for free in a military home typicallyreserved for the U.S. Coast Guard’s top admiral, officials familiar with the matter said. The highly unusual arrangement has raised concern within the agency andfrom some Democrats, who describe it as a waste of military resources.
Noem recently moved intoQuarters 1, a spacious waterfront residence at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington where the Coast Guard commandant typically resides. She did so because of concerns over her safety after the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, published photographs in April of the area around Noem’s residence in Washington’s Navy Yard neighborhood, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
[…]
Noem pays no rent to live in the commandant’s house, according to an official familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.That’s a departure from how other Cabinet secretarieshave handled similar arrangements. Other Cabinet officials, including during both Trump administrations, have paid to use military housing that otherwise would be occupied by top generals and admirals.
She is supposedly there “temporarily” (however long that means).
The next paragraph is an example of the scourge of elite-level journalism in the US that continues to demonstrate it is not up to the task of dealing with the authoritarian nature of this regime.
Noem’s housing has raised eyebrows among current and retired Coast Guard officials, as well as Democrats, who warn that Noem risks creating the perception that she is exploiting the perks of her position as DHS secretary, in which she supervises the Coast Guard.
The “risk of creating the perception” is quite the phrase. You see, it might make people think there is a problem.
No.
It is a problem.
The WaPo piece goes down the same road twice.
Noem’s housing arrangement could create the impression that she is exploiting her position of authority over the Coast Guard to accrue perks for herself, said Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning watchdog nonprofit.
“What are the optics?” Brown said. “And is this taking advantage of your individual position as a government official to benefit unduly?”
I understand the impulse to be evenhanded, but good grief.
If there is a real security concern with the doxing, well, deal with it. But she should be getting free housing. It is an abuse of office and is unfair to those who are entitled to said housing as part of their posting. It should be noted that the admiral entitled to the property pays the lease on the property in question (but does get a housing allowance).
Members of the military, including the Coast Guard commandant, receive a housing allowance that is based on their rank, the city they live in and their dependents. It is common for members of the Coast Guard to use the funding to pay for a lease, including in the house where Noem is residing, according to a person familiar with Coast Guard housing policy. Previous commandants have paid the leasing company directly for the quarters, they said.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin appeals to Noem’s humanity and rancherness in justifying all of this.
McLaughlin defended Noem’s living arrangement in an email to The Washington Post, saying it was necessary because the secretary had been “so horribly doxxed and targeted that she is no longer able to safely live in her own apartment.”
She added that it was “sad” for a Post reporter to “suggest a rancher should have to pay a second rent because of a reporter’s irresponsible decisions to dox where she lives.”
“If you cannot find humanity in another human’s safety and security, I invite you to find it here,” she said, including a link to Washington National Cathedral.
Sure, that makes sense. She has access to a great deal of security, being head of, you know, the Department of Homeland Security, but sure, free houses for all the ranchers, or something.
The griftiness of it all is quite Trumpian.
Current and former Coast Guard members have also cited Noem’s frequent use of a Coast Guard Gulfstream aircraft as a point of tension. Agency guidelines require the DHS secretary to use a plane with secure communications for both personal and professional business, though they are required to reimburse the government for personal travel. McLaughlin said Noem had reimbursed “tens of thousands of dollars” for the air travel, after publication of this story.
Noem faced scrutiny for her expenses when she served as governor of South Dakota. She spent $68,000 in taxpayer money to refurbish the governor’s mansion with a sauna, chandelier and other amenities, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported in 2021. And South Dakota picked up the tab for at least $150,000 in campaign and personal travel for Noem related to her security when she was governor, the Associated Press reported this year.
You know, as public servants do.
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Author: Steven L. Taylor
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