Hunter Biden's Secret Service detail is paying approximately $30,000 a month of taxpayer money to rent a mansion near the president's son's luxury home in Malibu, California.

The cost of the mansion is part of the price of protecting members of the most powerful family in the country who warrant their own security detail, Don Mihalek, a former Secret Service agent, told ABC News.

"Typically, wherever a protectee sets up their residence, the Secret Service is forced to find someplace to rent nearby at market value," Mihalek said. "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."

President Joe Biden has his own residences in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, where the Secret Service is also renting out places nearby.

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Mihalek added that renting a house in a town nearby in order to skimp on the price would not do anyone any good because it would put the Secret Service too far away from the people it is ordered to protect.

Biden's Malibu mansion includes four bedrooms and three bathrooms with an open floor plan, vaulted high ceilings, a chef's kitchen, and French doors, according to ABC. It also features a pool, a spa, a built-in barbecue bar, and alfresco dining.

The neighboring mansion where the Secret Service is located includes six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a gym, a tasting room, a built-in barbecue, a pool, a spa, and a spiral staircase that leads up to a "castlelike tower to the master retreat with wet bar."

Previous administrations have also had high costs of living for the Secret Service agents. The Secret Service requested an additional $60 million during the first year of former President Donald Trump's presidency to cover the cost of protecting Trump and his family. The Secret Service additionally paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect Trump's sons during business trips overseas.

Former President Barack Obama and his family mostly lived in the White House during his eight years in office. However, they took multiple trips to Martha's Vineyard and Hawaii that cost the Secret Service millions of dollars each time.

Critics of the spending have suggested bringing down the cost of the Secret Service by allowing the agents to live with their clients. Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the government group Public Citizen, said Biden should keep in mind the cost the Secret Service is placing on the people.

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"Hunter should recognize the exorbitant cost of his own protection in the exclusive Malibu neighborhood and cooperate with the Secret Service to bring down the expenses," Holman told ABC News. "A cost of $30,000 a month for the Secret Service to rent a home in Malibu next to Hunter is an unconscionable burden to taxpayers, all for the personal benefit of Hunter Biden. Hunter should realize this and accommodate his security detail in his own home."