Pence to form political action committee as 2024 presidential rumours swirl

Organisation would push former vice president’s ‘consistent conservative philosophy’

Former vice president Mike Pence is reportedly starting on plans to form a political action committee, amid rumours of a presidential run in 2024.

NBC News reported on Monday that Mr Pence will announce the committee sometime in the next few weeks.

Mr Pence’s group would be classed as a 501(c)4 organisation, meaning that it would be able to buy ads for candidates but would only be able to spend up to half its funds on political ventures.

An unnamed source told NBC that the goal of the committee would be to push Mr Pence’s “consistent conservative philosophy” to the US public.

Although the organisation would be barred from campaigning, it would allow Mr Pence the opportunity to retain relationships with GOP donors in the years leading up to the next presidential election.

The former vice president is not expected to announce his future political ambitions until after the 2022 midterms, but advisers told NBC that he has not made a decision yet on whether to run for the Republican presidential nomination.

The 61-year-old served as Mr Trump’s vice president for four years, but distanced himself in the last few weeks as he presided over a House vote to impeach him for the second time for inciting the Capitol riots on 6 January.

He was pressured publicly by Mr Trump to overturn the 2020 election results, but Mr Pence released a statement before the vote confirming he would not.

The relationship between the pair is thought to have deteriorated in the final few weeks of Mr Trump’s presidency, but Mr Pence has not made a decision on whether to back opponents if the former president decides to run again, with people familiar with him telling NBC: “That’s a long way off.”

Mr Pence is currently staying out of the public eye, and travelled to St Croix, in the US Virgin Islands, with his wife Karen Pence shortly after attending President Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January.

Although he still has Secret Service protection, Mr Pence does not currently have a permanent home and he and his wife have reportedly been looking for a new place to live.

However, he has made it clear that Indiana will be where he will buy a house, telling a crowd shortly after Mr Biden’s inauguration: “I've already promised Karen we'll be moving back to Indiana come this summer,” and adding: “There's no place like home.”

The Independent has contacted Mr Pence for contact.