WASHINGTON — The man code-named “Angler” by the Secret Service probably will continue to receive the agency’s protection after he leaves office next year.
The Secret Service is preparing to provide Vice President Dick Cheney with agents, transportation, advance work and other security-related trappings of executive power for six months after the Bush administration packs up and moves out in January, the agency’s director, Mark Sullivan, told Congress last week. The expected cost: $4 million.
Presidents and their spouses are entitled to Secret Service protection long after they leave the White House, but federal law authorizes protective services for the vice president and his immediate family only during his time in office. Extending Cheney’s detail would require a directive from the president or a joint resolution of Congress.
Experts say such precautions make sense. The U.S. is at war abroad and faces the persistent threat of terrorism at home. Cheney has been an unusually high-profile No. 2 — and would remain a target long after his term.
Such measures are not uncommon. Since Hubert Humphrey in 1969, several former vice presidents have been granted protection extensions, Secret Service officials said.
It is unclear whether Cheney could receive protection beyond six months, but another extension would require presidential or congressional action.
