Washington – Vice President Dick Cheney won’t lose his home, his office and his entertainment expense account after all.
The House on Thursday rejected an attempt to eliminate the vice president’s $4.8 million executive office budget, a move that Democrats tied to Cheney’s assertion that his office didn’t need to comply with national security disclosure rules required of other executive branch agencies.
Republicans denounced the proposal as political theater.
The vote, on an amendment to a 2008 spending bill for the Treasury Department and executive branch agencies, was defeated 217-209.
“We are pleased to see a bipartisan majority reject this political stunt,” said Cheney spokeswoman Megan McGinn.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., author of the amendment, said it was the logical outgrowth of the vice president’s claim that his office was outside the scope of rules imposed on other executive offices.