It came up before with Dick Cheney (Obama extended his protection) but the story got a lot less play. There were also at least three rounds of media chatter about former presidents losing protection - when Nixon gave his up, when Congress took away lifetime coverage, and when Obama restored it.

Most people can’t even name/id the VP while in office, why would taxpayers continue to foot the bill to cover unneeded overpriced security by an already overstretched Secret Service. After SS ends former protectees can hire private security. For many, Secret Service is more about vanity image-boost