Mike Pence to House Republicans: ‘Buckle Up’

Just a few years ago, Mike Pence was the chairman of the House Republican conference. Thursday, when he sat down with many of his former colleagues, he did so as vice president-elect.

Informing Congress they now had a direct line to the Oval Office through him, he also delivered an important message that ties directly to his work leading President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team: “Buckle up and be ready to work extremely hard.”

The following is a “readout” of the meeting, provided by the Trump transition team:

Vice President-Elect Mike Pence today addressed a meeting of the House Republican Conference. During the meeting, the vice president-elect shared greetings and expressed a desire for unity between the Trump Administration and both chambers of Congress to move America forward during the first 100 days of the Administration and beyond.

Vice President-Elect Pence shared an update on the presidential transition, which he is chairing, stating that substantial progress is being made with decisions on key appointments. He also solicited feedback and suggestions from conference members on additional appointments and communicated a desire to receive additional input in the weeks ahead.

In his address, Vice President-Elect Pence reaffirmed the commitment of the Trump Administration to pursue a legislative strategy focused on tax reform and tax relief, in addition to repealing and replacing Obamacare, securing our border, rebuilding our infrastructure, and other priority items to create jobs and increase security. The Vice President-Elect took questions from Conference members where he reiterated his commitment to work together with legislative leaders and the commitment of the Trump Administration to evaluate and repeal unconstitutional Obama Administration executive orders.

Vice President-Elect Pence concluded by thanking Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Conference members for their continued support and was complimentary of the new Conference leadership team they have nominated.

“He made it very clear today he will be in effect a liaison for members of the House,” Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) told The Washington Examiner after the closed-door meeting. “I think he’s going to play a very critical role in this administration in terms of getting their priorities moving forward, but also hearing from us and what we need to be doing for the country.”

Meanwhile, back at Trump Tower, the transition process continued with a virtual revolving door of politicians and policy experts visiting with the president-elect and his transition team. Among the latest visitors: U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas); FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith; Oracle Corp. co-CEO Safra Catz; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; Florida Gov. Rick Scott; Gen. (ret.) Jack Keane; NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers; and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

The Trump transition team has indicated some high-level appointments could be announced soon.