House

Garcia presses DHS for info on whether Noem is living in government housing

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by Sarah Fortinsky - 05/01/26 6:54 PM ET

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by Sarah Fortinsky - 05/01/26 6:54 PM ET

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Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, is pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for information on whether its former secretary, Kristi Noem, is still living in government housing.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Garcia cited the Wall Street Journal’s reporting last week that indicated Noem has continued using the waterfront house on a military base in Washington, D.C., nearly two months after she was removed from her post.

Garcia demanded DHS provide materials related to her housing arrangement, including “any lease agreement, contractual arrangement, or special dispensation permitting former Secretary Noem to continue to reside in Coast Guard housing on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling or any other DHS property.”

“The ongoing use of Coast Guard housing by a former DHS official raises concerns of waste, fraud, and abuse of government resources under your supervision,” Garcia wrote in his letter.

Garcia also pressed Mullin on whether his predecessor was paying rent for the housing accommodations, requesting that he provide “all evidence of rental payments or reimbursements paid to the federal government by Kristi Noem” to live at the waterfront property.

The ranking member also asked for all memos or policy that DHS “relied upon to justify the use” of the residence both during Noem’s time as secretary and after she was terminated on March 5. She was subsequently tapped as special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas.”

Garcia requested the material be provided by May 15.

“Kristi Noem got fired in March and she is still living rent-free in a government home that belongs to the Coast Guard. The Trump Administration can’t explain why, nor do they seem to care,” Garcia said in a statement.

“Secretary Mullin owes us answers and Noem must pack her bags and go,” he added.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

Reports about Noem’s living situation first surfaced in August, when DHS said the move was necessary because of the death threats Noem faced.

“Following the media’s publishing of the location of Secretary Noem’s Washington DC apartment, she has faced vicious doxing on the dark web and a surge in death threats, including from the terrorist organizations, cartels, and criminals gangs that DHS targets,” the department said in a statement at the time.

In testimony before Congress in early March — just one day before she was removed as secretary — Noem defended living in Coast Guard housing but pushed back on earlier reporting suggesting she was living in the commandant’s home and that she wasn’t paying rent.

“Let me clarify a couple things. I’m not in the Commandant’s house. I’m in a Coast Guard House, but not the Commandant’s house,” Noem said during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee. “The Commandant is in his house.”

“And I will also tell you that I rent that facility. I rent where I stay, and pay personal dollars to do that,” she added.

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