Democrats seek to strip Cheney funds

House Democrats, responding to Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertion that his office is exempt from certain national security disclosure requirements, said they would try to strip his office’s funding.

The proposal to eliminate funding for Cheney’s office could come up Thursday as an amendment to an annual spending bill, said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).

Cheney set off protests from Democrats when he declared that his office was exempt from sections of a presidential order that executive branch offices provide data on how much material they classify and declassify.

The White House agreed, saying that Cheney’s office was exempt from the reporting order because it was not intended to treat the vice president’s office as an executive branch “agency.”