It costs a helluva lot of money to protect Betsy DeVos

By Devin Culham

Oct 4, 2018 at 11:36 am

Audio By Carbonatix

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Heavens to Betsy! It sure does cost a lot to protect Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.

A spokesman for The U.S. Marshals Service told Politico that the cost to protect Betsy DeVos for the 2018 fiscal year was $6.79 million, and those costs are only going to go up. It's projected that security detail for Betsy DeVos from now until Sept. 2019 will cost $7.74 million. Unlike the past four Secretaries of Education, Betsy DeVos does not utilize the Department of Education's security force for personal protection. Instead, DeVos is surrounded by a 24-hour security detail from the U.S. Marshals Service.

That's not to say that DeVos and co. haven't looked to cut costs, however. DeVos, the daughter of billionaire industrialist Edgar Prince, pays for all private and public transportation, including the cost of flying marshals on her private plane. The Education Department is responsible for paying the per diem expenses of the marshals, as well as vehicles, parking, salaries, benefits, and reasonable overtime pay.

The security agreement went into effect in Feb. 14, 2017 and will remain in effect for four years, as long as funds are still available. The agreement has the option to terminate at any time and is open to yearly financial adjustments by the ED and USMS.

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