Based on a new report, Vice President Mike Pence is finding out the hard way exactly what former VP John Nance Garner meant when he proclaimed:
“The vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit.”
In Pence’s case, however, the job may not be worth the condensation on the cold can of Diet Coke.
The Atlantic reports that during the ongoing negotiations to end the government shutdown, Pence has been tasked with finding a solution that would allow President Donald Trump to declare victory and reopen shuttered federal offices. But that job has proven to be impossible:
“‘He’s investing in GOP solidarity,’ one senior Republican aide told the magazine, ‘not deal making with Democrats.'”
Pence has so little power or authority in the administration that one aide to a member of the House Democratic leadership commented:
“I don’t know that he has any authority whatsoever. It’s perplexing.”
One of the main reasons Pence was brought aboard as running mate, it turns out, was so he could negotiate deals with Congress and deliver victories on behalf of Trump, but he hasn’t been very successful in that endeavor:
“The Trump campaign [pitched] him as an experienced Hill denizen who could make up for what Trump lacked in legislative know-how. Pence served for more than a decade in the House, holding leadership positions such as chair of the Republican conference.”
But as the president has increasingly alienated members of his own party in Congress, Pence’s role has diminished, along with his clout:
“The fact remains that this weekend, the president gave his lead negotiator very little room to negotiate, sending Pence to a meeting that Trump himself said would yield nothing. This, coupled with the moments over the past month when Trump has publicly undermined Pence’s messaging, has helped create a portrait of a vice president with diminishing influence.”
But all is not lost, as Pence has found a new calling he can try and excel at: Fetching sodas for the president, who is known to drink numerous soft drinks over the course of a typical day:
“One congressional Republican staffer I spoke to recalled a policy meeting with Trump and Pence in which the vice president said little. One of the few times he spoke, the source said, was to flag another staff member. ‘The president,’ he said, ‘would like a Diet Coke.'”
One wonders if Pence is also responsible for making sure Trump is put to bed on time and tucked in. Or does that duty fall to the press secretary?
Featured Image Via MSNBC
