White House: Despite call for probe, Emanuel's job is 'very safe'

White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said Thursday that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's job is "very safe" in the wake of a letter penned by a surprising political couple requesting the Justice Department to investigate him.

Liberal blogger Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake.com and Grover Norquist, the head of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, on Wednesday wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for an investigation into Emanuel's role on the board of Freddie Mac earlier this decade. The couple allege that Emanuel's position is a reason why Justice has not investigated the public-private mortgage lender.

"I have the feeling that Rahm's job is very safe," Burton told a gaggle of reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Hawaii for the first family's holiday vacation.

Emanuel served on the board of Freddie Mac from 2000 to 2001, leaving to run for Congress. Emanuel was eventually elected to the House of Representatives and was selected to be the president's chief of staff in November 2008.

Emanuel has also come under fire from the left of late after it was reported that he pushed Senate Democratic leaders to broker a deal for Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on healthcare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) eventually removed two provisions in the bill popular with liberals: the public option and the Medicare buy-in for people between the ages of 55 and 64.

Hamsher afterward called on the Senate to "kill the bill," the same rallying cry conservatives have used throughout the debate.

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