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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFormer Vice President Mike Pence has opened a transition office in northern Virginia.
Pence announced Wednesday that the Office of the Former Vice President will handle correspondence, scheduling requests, public statements and official activities for him and his wife, Karen. The office is located in Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington.
The Pences are also living in northern Virginia. A spokesperson said they have summer plans to move back to Indiana, where Mike Pence was governor and represented the state in the U.S. House. In 2016, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump chose Pence to be his vice presidential running mate, and the ticket was elected in 2016.
Trump and Pence lost their bid for reelection to Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
“The vice president and Mrs. Pence look forward to continuing to elevate causes that are near and dear to their hearts and serving the American people when called upon,” said their spokesperson, Kara Brooks.
Under federal law, the outgoing president and vice president are provided a transition office and other services for six months for the purpose of wrapping up their official business.
Trump moved into his Mar-a-Lago estate in his new home state of Florida on Jan. 20, when his term ended. He recently opened his transition office.
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What will prevent Pence from using the taxpayer-paid “transition” office and staff for political purposes? Let’s face it, as vice president Pence did not and will not have innumerable official duties. He has announced though that he intends to pursue political endeavors. Are taxpayers going to be subsidizing those efforts for the next six months? What guardrails are in place to prevent that?
Brent, great question. Maybe we can look into how much taxpayer $ went to Biden in the last 4 years as a starting point.
None. He did receive the same funding as Pence to transition out of the vice presidency, but he did not undertake any political activities during the six months of that transition period.