WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney"s influence within the Bush administration has lessened in the president"s second term, with the causes Cheney has championed -- a tough skepticism of negotiations with the Democratic People"s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the forceful exercise of presidential authority -- are being rethought within the administration, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The deal with the DPRK this month is only the latest example of a new pragmatism forced on the administration by a series of court decisions, the deteriorating situation in Iraq and -- perhaps most of all -- the Democratic takeover of Congress, the report said, citing officials inside the government and experts outside it.

Cheney worked hard in President George W. Bush"s first term to prevent talks aimed at halting the DPRK"s push to develop a nuclear bomb, and at one point three years ago, he even bypassed the State Department to intervene in delicate negotiations over Pyongyang"s nuclear activities.

But this month Cheney stayed out of the way as a top State Department negotiator wrapped up a nuclear agreement with the DPRK, a deal that many of the vice president"s conservative allies consider foolhardy and that some of his own staff are said to find hard to swallow, the report said.

The White House has made a concerted effort to be more conciliatory with Capitol Hill; to make rhetorical nods to issues such as global warming and income inequality, which drew little attention in Bush"s first term; to permit court review of secret wiretapping of terrorism suspects; and to make new diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East and elsewhere.

"There"s no question in the current political situation that Cheney has lost clout," Leslie H. Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, was quoted as saying. "He"s lost clout because Bush has to prove he"s not an international confrontationalist, warmonger and diplomatic bungler. If you have such a reputation, you can"t function as president."

Figuring out how much influence Cheney has is a longtime Washington parlor game -- but the answer is ultimately unknowable, given that almost all of his advice is offered privately, and both the president and his No. 2 zealously guard the details. The two meet for a private lunch once a week, share intelligence briefings and get together with staff for policy discussions, the report said.

[Link to source]

Related: Washington Post