Trump Cabinet Moves To Military Housing As Political Tensions Surge

Security concerns escalate as 2026 midterms loom…

Several senior Trump administration officials have quietly relocated to secured facilities under U.S. military protection, according to individuals familiar with the matter. The relocations to military bases follow a sharp increase in politically motivated threats and intimidation directed at government officials.

Since August, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been living rent-free in the residence typically reserved for the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.

Noem’s spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, said the move followed a period of doxxing and threats, adding that Noem “is no longer able to safely live in her own apartment.” The high-security residence is typically reserved for top Coast Guard officials and not standard housing for a DHS secretary.

According to The Atlantic’s report on Thursday, Noem isn’t alone. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and other senior officials have also relocated to government housing under similar circumstances:

Stephen Miller soon joined a growing list of senior Trump-administration political appointees—at least six by our count—living in Washington-area military housing, where they are shielded not just from potential violence but also from protest. It is an ominous marker of the nation’s polarization, to which the Trump administration has itself contributed, that some of those top public servants have felt a need to separate themselves from the public. These civilian officials can now depend on the U.S. military to augment their personal security. But so many have made the move that they are now straining the availability of housing for the nation’s top uniformed officers.

Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, moved out of her D.C. apartment building and into the home designated for the Coast Guard commandant on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, across the river from the capital, after the Daily Mail described where she lived. Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live on “Generals’ Row” at Fort McNair, an Army enclave along the Anacostia River, according to officials from the State and Defense Departments. (Rubio spent one recent evening assembling furniture that had been delivered to the house that day.) Although most Cabinet-level officials live in private houses, there is precedent for senior national-security officials, including the defense secretary, to rent homes on bases for security or convenience. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, whose family is in Washington only part-time, now shares a home on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, a picturesque site next to Arlington National Cemetery. His roommate is another senior political appointee to the Army. (When Driscoll moved in, his washing machine wasn’t working, so for the first few weeks of his stay on base, he lugged his laundry over to the home of the Army chief of staff, General Randy George.)

Another senior White House official, whom The Atlantic is not naming because of security concerns related to a specific foreign threat, also vacated a private home for a military installation after Kirk’s murder. In that case, security officials urged the official to relocate to military housing, according to people briefed on the move, who like many others who spoke with us for this story were not authorized to do so publicly. So many senior officials have requested housing that some are now encountering a familiar D.C. problem: inadequate supply. When Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s team inquired earlier in Donald Trump’s second term about her moving onto McNair, it didn’t work out for space reasons, a former official told us.

While past administrations have seen a few Cabinet officials — particularly those in national security roles — live on military bases, Thursday’s report states that the number of Trump officials doing so is unprecedented.

Some critics have raised concerns about the optics of civilian leaders living on heavily guarded installations. Yet even those critics concede that the erosion of political discourse has coincided with a rise in violence — including the two attempted assassinations of President Donald Trump.

In recent years, U.S. authorities have disrupted plots linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aimed at killing Trump and former Trump administration officials. Security experts say such threats underscore why officials across Washington are seeking safer accommodations.

The relocation to military housing provides enhanced security infrastructure — including restricted access, perimeter surveillance, and proximity to federal protection services — that is often unavailable in private residences.

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