Pence 'very encouraged' by Trump's initial cabinet picks

Former Vice President Pence said on Tuesday that he is "very encouraged" by President-elect Trump's initial cabinet picks for his next administration.

"I am very encouraged by the early appointments by the president-elect,” Pence, Trump’s previous vice president, said at The Dispatch Summit.

The former vice president also noted Trump’s picks of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan and Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) as Secretary of State, “border czar” and national security adviser, respectively, saying “these are all conservative men and women who I believe will serve the country well, serve the president-elect well."

Pence has had a strained relationship with Trump since shortly after the 2020 presidential election. For around two years, the former vice president has said openly that he had no authority to deny the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021, despite Trump pressuring him to do so.

Pence did not endorse the president-elect in his most recent bid for the White House.

"Look, I'm incredibly proud of the record of our administration. It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, more secure, and saw conservatives appointed to our courts in a more peaceful world," Pence said in March. "But that being said, during my presidential campaign, I made clear there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues."

Trump allegedly said, "So what?" on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the U.S. Capitol riots, in response to an aide alerting the then-outgoing president that his vice president had been taken to a secure location, per a filing from special counsel Jack Smith.

The Hill has reached out to Border911, an organization Homan is president and CEO of, a spokesperson for Trump and Rubio, and Waltz’s offices for comment.