Vice President Mike Pence, already the administration’s point-person with conservatives, evangelicals, and advocates for religious freedom, is building up his team to keep them close as the president dives into the 2020 reelection.
Pence officials told Secrets that they have brought on Paul Teller, well-known and respected in conservative circles, to handle and maintain key relationships with conservative groups and lawmakers like those in the influential Freedom Caucus.
Teller, who has worked with Pence in the past, will leave his post in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.
He is replacing former Pence aide Sarah Makin who has joined the national security council to oversee the administration’s international religious freedom efforts, itself a campaign also pushed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that has won applause from conservatives and evangelicals.
Teller told us, “It’s been a true privilege to have worked for President Trump and Vice President Pence these last three years in the White House Legislative Affairs office, and I’m excited for the honor to expand this collaboration with the larger conservative world on and off the Hill from the Office of the Vice President. The greatest and most consistent allies of this president and vice president are in the conservative movement, and I’m humbled by this new opportunity to do all I can to foster and grow these alliances.”
The vice president’s chief of staff, Marc Short, added, “Paul has been a fixture of the conservative movement for more than two decades, so we are thrilled to have him in the office of the vice president, where we know he’ll continue to work tirelessly to advance this administration’s priorities.”
The move was embraced by conservatives, some of whom also saw it as a nod to a potential 2024 presidential run by Pence.
Tommy Binion, vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation, said, “Paul Teller is a dynamic conservative leader who is trusted and respected by conservatives on Capitol Hill and amongst outside groups. His role in the White House has been critical since the beginning and this step will make him even more effective.”
Teller has been a fixture in the conservative world for at least two decades. He was a chief of staff for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and worked on his 2016 presidential bid. He was an executive director for the House Republican Study Committee under seven chairmen, including Pence when he was an Indiana congressman, and worked for think tanks and in the media.
Pence has been the key to keeping conservatives on Trump’s team and has been the president’s most active outreach leader to the groups.
Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James recently told us, “There’s an instinctual trust that conservatives have with Vice President Pence that’s been built through nearly two decades of working together.”
