Pence Makes Unusual Move to Advance Trump's Agenda

Borrowing from his boss's now-famous slogan, Vice President Mike Pence has launched the "Great America Committee" PAC in advance of the 2018 and 2020 elections, NBC News reports. Pence will use money raised through the PAC to travel the country on Air Force Two and help stump for GOP contenders. The Federal Election Commission received paperwork on Wednesday for the PAC, which a source close to Pence indicates will offer resources "to actually support candidates who are supportive of the president's agenda." Under such a leadership PAC, individual donors and other federal PACs can contribute up to $5,000 per year, Bloomberg notes.

Pence aides Nick Ayers and Marty Obst will manage the PAC, with Ayers saying planning for it began back in December. NBC notes it's the first time a sitting VP has created his own separate arm like this; past officials have typically used campaign or party funds. In fact, a couple of past VPs—Bloomberg points to Joe Biden and Dick Cheney—didn't have an active leadership PAC at all while in office. "Launching a leadership PAC sometimes signals an intent to run for higher office," the director for the Center for Responsive Politics tells Bloomberg. But the NBC source insists that's not the case here: "Don't read into 2020 as anything other than [Pence] running for re-election as vice president in 2020 and supporting other candidates." (More Mike Pence stories.)