(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Trump administration could soon cancel a taxpayer-funded lease on a Pennsylvania house used by the Secret Service to protect Ashley Biden, the adult daughter of former President Joe Biden.
The Department of Government Efficiency, which is recommending sweeping cuts to federal spending, listed the property among hundreds of government leases marked for termination. The house costs taxpayers $36,348 annually. In total, 700 agreements have been flagged for cancellation.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, DOGE’s move contradicts the Secret Service’s plan to honor Biden’s moratorium, which extended Ashley Biden’s taxpayer-funded protection through July 2025—months after her father left office.
Typically, only former presidents receive continued protection after leaving office.
“This Secret Service work site is essential to our operations and necessary to effectuate our protective functions,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told the Inquirer.
The General Services Administration, which has assisted DOGE in managing properties and finding cost-saving measures, denied involvement in targeting the Biden-tied property.
“None of the leases cited were flagged by GSA for termination,” GSA spokesperson Will Powell affirmed. “Both the Philadelphia and Wilmington leases are intact until the end of their term.”
It is unclear whether DOGE preemptively listed the house as part of its cost-saving measures in anticipation of its July termination.
The cost of protecting the Biden family has sparked controversy before. The Secret Service previously paid more than $30,000 per month to rent a luxury mansion in Malibu to protect Hunter Biden—who at the time was paying $20,000 a month for his own mansion.
“Typically, wherever a protectee sets up their residence, the Secret Service is forced to find someplace to rent nearby at market value,” said retired senior USSS agent Don Mihalek in an interview with ABC News in 2022.
“This isn’t new. The Service has had to do this in past administrations, and unfortunately, the housing market right now has driven the prices up substantially,” Mihalek added.
