WASHINGTON—Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has continued using a waterfront house on a military base in Washington, D.C., that she took over as a cabinet member, according to people familiar with the matter.
A black Suburban SUV typically used by Noem was seen parked in front of the house earlier this week, those people said, and U.S. Coast Guard officials have spotted Noem on the base in recent days.
Noem moved into the house on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which is typically designated for the commandant of the Coast Guard, after President Trump last year fired Linda Fagan, the commandant at the time. The Coast Guard generally falls under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security.
Noem has continued to use the house since Trump ousted her from DHS in early March. She officially left the job after Markwayne Mullin was confirmed as the new secretary.
Noem is now serving as Trump’s special envoy for the Shield of the Americas—Western Hemisphere, a security initiative created by the administration at the State Department.
The State Department and DHS didn’t respond for comment.
Before Noem was ousted by Trump, she faced questions from members of Congress about her residence at the base. “I will also tell you that I rent that facility,” she said during a hearing at the time. “I rent where I stay, and pay personal dollars to do that.”
The current Coast Guard commandant, Adm. Kevin Lunday, has told associates he plans to move into the house imminently, according to people familiar with the discussions. He currently lives in a nearly identical home next door, designated for the vice commandant, but wants to make room for that official to move in.
Typically, homeland security secretaries aren’t provided government housing, and as civilians, they normally wouldn’t need to live on a military base. But Noem became one of several Trump administration officials to move into military housing after paparazzi or demonstrators discovered their private residences.
Corey Lewandowski, who was Noem’s top aide at DHS, has been spotted at the Coast Guard house over the past year, according to people familiar with the matter, including as recently as this month, one of those people said.
“Scores of people have visited Ms. Noem at the house in a business capacity,” Lewandowski said in a statement through a lawyer.
Tabloid photos showed Lewandowski going back and forth between his apartment and Noem’s previous apartment across the street last year. Lewandowski and Noem, who are both married, have publicly denied the reports of an affair, but officials at DHS said they did little to hide their relationship, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Besides using the government-owned property, Noem and Lewandowski spent $70 million on leasing a jet for their personal travel, the Journal has reported. The plane included a private cabin with a queen bed. Her spending of taxpayer dollars, including more than $200 million on ads that focused on her, angered Trump and White House officials.
Write to Marianne LeVine at marianne.levine@wsj.com, Tarini Parti at tarini.parti@wsj.com and Michelle Hackman at michelle.hackman@wsj.com
