DOGE cancels lease for Secret Service home in Philly for agents who watch Biden's daughter

Max Marin, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Mar 11, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — The Department of Government Efficiency’s attempt to cancel an apartment lease in Philadelphia has sparked disagreement with the U.S. Secret Service over its ongoing security operation for Ashley Biden.

DOGE’s website reports it has ended the rental agreement for a 1,000-square-foot apartment leased by the federal law enforcement agency, one of more than 700 agreements flagged for termination as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping effort to downsize the federal government.

Public records link that lease to an apartment building near the home of former President Joe Biden’s 43-year-old daughter.

But the Secret Service on Monday said it was not aware of any changes to the Philadelphia lease, stating that the lodging remains essential for the agency’s ongoing protective detail for the daughter of the former president and Jill Biden, which extends through July.

Ashley Biden retains a protective detail as part of an executive memorandum issued by her father, according to a Secret Service official familiar with the matter.

“This Secret Service work site is essential to our operations and necessary to effectuate our protective functions,” agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said Monday, referring questions back to DOGE.

The DOGE database included at least a half dozen other canceled Secret Service leases, including three in Delaware where other members of the Biden family live. Guglielmi said two of those leases were actually ended in November under Biden as he wound down his presidential term.

An email to three DOGE representatives, as well as a government email associated with Musk, was not returned. The General Services Administration, an independent federal agency that manages U.S. government real estate holdings and leases, said it had no role in ending the Secret Service leases.

“None of the leases cited were flagged by GSA for termination,” GSA spokesperson Will Powell said. “Both the Philadelphia and Wilmington leases are intact until the end of their term.”

The Philadelphia apartment lease extends through July along with Ashley Biden’s protective status, Guglielmi said. A representative for the Biden family declined comment.

The Philadelphia apartment lease costs taxpayers $36,348 annually, part of nearly a half-billion dollars worth of rental agreements that DOGE claims to have canceled in recent weeks.

The conflict with the Secret Service marks yet another confusing incident for the nascent agency led by the world’s richest man. DOGE faces mounting pressure over its hack-and-slash approach to budget trimming, especially as cuts to government services begin to impact Republican strongholds across the country.

The decision to end the Secret Service lease also comes as Trump flexes the powers of his office. Hours after taking office in January, Trump revoked Secret Service protection for John Bolton, his one-time national security adviser turned public critic. Bolton had been granted the detail due to threats to his life from Iran, the New York Times reported.

Former U.S. presidents and their spouses retain lifelong protection from the Secret Service. But their children, once past age 16, are not guaranteed protection from the elite security force.

Extending that protective coverage is not unprecedented. Before Trump left the Oval Office in 2021, he ordered a six-month extension for his four adult children as well three of his top Cabinet officials, the Washington Post reported at the time.

A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Secret Service detail for the Biden children.

The Secret Service often declines to publicly confirm information or provide details about its protective operations. But Guglielmi said that, in principle, the agency had no issue with DOGE publishing the lease information.

“Disclosing the address of a Secret Service work site does not necessarily compromise security for a protectee,” he said, noting that local property and tax records of many Secret Service protectees are often subject to open records laws.

“We are very cognizant of these possibilities and take all of it into consideration when developing our protective posture,” he added.

The White House last week referred questions about DOGE cuts to the agency itself. But the department’s website does not list any contact info, save for a page trying to attract potential new hires.

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