With all eyes on the storm facing President Trump’s White House, Vice President Mike Pence quietly set up a new political action committee (PAC).
The leadership PAC, known as the “Great America Committee” will provide a new way for the conservative Vice President to raise funds for Republicans in Congress and travel to fundraisers on Air Force Two across the nation.
With Democrats already talking about impeaching Trump, biased reporters are hoping the PAC is a sign that Pence is preparing a run for President. But in reality, it’s about covering the costs of his political travel while building a war chest for tough Congressional battles.
This is great news!:
Pence launched Great America Committee, a leadership PAC, a move that will enable him to channel money to congressional Republicans ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. The political action committee’s registration was posted Wednesday on the Federal Election Commission website.
“The Vice President is playing a leading role in passing legislation on the Hill,” said Nick Ayers, a senior adviser to Pence in the 2016 campaign who will be running the PAC. “He wants to support House and Senate members who are helping pass the president’s agenda.”
It’s unusual for vice presidents to set up their own fundraising vehicles. Neither Joseph Biden nor Dick Cheney, the two vice presidents who preceded Pence, had one while in office. It’s not entirely unprecedented, though: George H.W. Bush formed the Fund for America’s Future when he was preparing for his 1988 presidential run.
“Launching a leadership PAC sometimes signals an intent to run for higher office, which in Pence’s case, has been a topic of public interest ever since he was first nominated,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsible Politics, which studies money in politics.
The PAC can accept donations up to $5,000 and has been quietly in the works since December. Pence has done extraordinary work with outreach to conservatives and ensuring the Trump administration’s legislative agenda is the most conservative in history.
He may have a different style than the President, but his efforts have helped further the Trump agenda more than anyone could have imagined.
Vice President Mike Pence creates PAC ahead of 2018 and 2020 elections to aid his future political interests https://t.co/QL4VPr3pcR pic.twitter.com/ZqvQVxrBVt
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 18, 2017
And as National Review notes, if Trump ever did leave office, the liberals will suddenly paint Pence as an extremist:
If Trump leaves office prematurely for any reason, President Pence will immediately be denounced as far worse. In fact, it would happen before he even took office. In fact it’s already happening. That this is true is testament to the fundamentally unprincipled nature of the Left. Whatever looks like a winning strategy on Thursday is what matters, even if it nullifies everything you said you believed on Monday.
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