JUST IN: Pence To Join Heritage Foundation as a Distinguished Fellow

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Former Vice President Mike Pence will join the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., he announced Thursday.

“The Heritage Foundation is a flagship of the conservative movement and I am profoundly honored to join them as a distinguished visiting fellow to advance conservative policies that will benefit every American,” the former vice president said in a statement. “I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with the all-star team at Heritage as we continue to take the case for a strong national defense, free markets and traditional values to policymakers across the nation and to every American who cherishes our Heritage of Freedom.”

The position will entail advising the Heritage Foundation’s staff and writing a weekly column for the group’s news website, The Daily Signal.

The announcement puts Pence in a unique position as he considers whether to run for president in 2024. Founded in 1973 by Edwin Feulner, a former adviser to President Ronald Reagan, the organization was long revered by conservatives for helping policymakers in Washington to pass legislation favorable to their social and economic agenda.

The group has faced criticism from some of its former allies in more recent years as social issues diminished as a priority for the Republican Party under President Donald Trump, and as conservatives developed a more hardline stance toward regulating tech companies such as Facebook and Google, something that Heritage has generally opposed.

Heritage President Kay Cole James welcomed Pence in a statement. “Mike Pence served with honor and excellence in his home state of Indiana as a congressman and as governor before becoming one of the most consequential vice presidents of our time,” James said, alluding to Pence’s 2001-13 tenure in the U.S. House and subsequent term as governor. “I am overjoyed that Heritage will continue to work alongside Vice President Pence as we have for the last 30 years. As much as we’ve accomplished in that time, especially over the last four years, there is so much more to be done. Knowing that Vice President Pence is still in the fight is an adrenaline shot for the entire conservative movement.”