‘Prime Minister Vance’ set to be most powerful VP since Cheney

Allies of the next vice-president believe he could use the next four years to consolidate his power base

JD Vance could serve as a de facto “prime minister” to Donald Trump, Republicans have suggested, becoming the most powerful vice-president to hold the office since Dick Cheney.
As the 40-year-old deputy to a 78-year-old lame duck president, allies of Mr Vance believe he could use the next four years to act as Mr Trump’s chief policy enforcer and consolidate his power base.
Since Mr Trump selected the Ohio senator as his running mate, Mr Vance has been viewed as the heir apparent to the Republican leader’s “MAGA” movement, with rumours abounding that he will take on a role as powerful as Dick Cheney’s, president George Bush’s vice-president.
Mr Cheney is considered the most powerful vice-president in US history, playing a critical road in reshaping US national security law.
He played a major role in Mr Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, as well as other major foreign policy decisions.
He famously commanded offices in the Senate, the Pentagon and steps from the Oval Office, in addition to the traditional vice-presidential office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
One Republican insider said that while Mr Cheney’s strength lay in his extensive experience in Washington, Mr Vance’s leverage lay in his status as Mr Trump’s “heir presumptive”.
He is expected to cement that status in the White House over the next four years, where GOP operatives have speculated he could wield an unusual level of power and influence.
Dennis Lennox, a veteran Republican strategist, said much would depend on how Mr Trump approached his second term.
He speculated that the president-elect could be “a transitional president who focuses more on head of state functions like hosting and going on state visits, cementing his legacy, and laying the foundation for a presidential library – all the things a president typically pivots to in their second term”.
“Does he have confidence in the people around him to sit back and let JD Vance act as his de facto prime minister, heading the government on a day-to-day basis?” Mr Lennox said.
“It’s in Vance’s selfish best interest for him to exercise as much influence as he can and get as much delegated authority as he can, because presumably he is the heir presumptive who will run for president in 2028.”
He added: “Right now it’s very unclear what approach he is going to take.
“But it’s hard to see a situation in which Vance does not exercise immense, if not virtually unprecedented, influence and delegated authority because Trump picked him to be his MAGA heir.”
Mr Vance suggested as much himself in an interview with USA Today ahead of the election. “I know the president wants me to be involved in everything,” he said. “My job is to help make him as successful as I can.”
A significant part of his role in the second Trump administration is expected to be serving as its chief public promoter.
Mr Vance impressed his boss with his attack-dog approach to the media during the campaign, doing more interviews than Mr Trump, Kamala Harris or Tim Walz.
“He is a feisty guy, isn’t he?,” Mr Trump said during his victory speech. “He and I have said, go into the enemy camp, and, you know, the enemy camp is certain networks and a lot of people don’t like [them].”
But Mr Vance, he said, was “the only guy I’ve ever seen [who] really looks forward to it. And then he just goes and absolutely obliterates them”.
In his own remarks on stage in Palm Beach, Mr Vance made clear it was the Trump administration’s economic agenda that he was most eager to pursue.
“We’re never going to stop fighting for you, for your dreams, for the future of your children,” he told the American public.
“And after the greatest political comeback in American history, we’re going to lead the greatest economic comeback in American history under Donald Trump’s leadership.”
Mr Vance’s former colleagues in the US Senate believe he will serve as a critical intermediary between the Oval Office and Capitol Hill to usher through Mr Trump’s legislative agenda.
It includes a dramatic set of tax cuts that could require considerable negotiation with deficit hawks within the GOP rank and file to be voted through both chambers of Congress.
A source close to a senior Republican senator told The Telegraph that Mr Vance’s Senate experience and his stature within the MAGA movement would make GOP senators more amenable to working with him than other members of the executive.
Despite being in his first term as the junior senator for Ohio, the source described him as a “creature of the Senate”, who would have the relationships needed with members on Capitol Hill to drive through legislation.
Mr Vance will also have half an eye on 2028. Given his youth, undeniable political skills and the GOP’s enthralment to the America-first, grassroots movement Mr Trump has built, his second-in-command is best placed to claim control of the party once the second Trump term concludes.
“I think the Republicans have to worry about how they regroup themselves in an environment where Trump’s not at the top of the ticket,” said Jon Lieber, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group. “To me, JD Vance is unbelievably well positioned to do that.”
Mr Lieber, speaking before Tuesday’s election, added: “I think he’s the archetype […] populist, not as shameless as Trump, more polished.
“Vance’s temperament, his approach to the media, his policy orientation are all the direction of travel for the Republican Party.
“That means anti-trade, anti-immigrant, anti-big business, which is a new feature in American politics.”
Mr Trump, notoriously superstitious, is said to have had limited involvement in planning for the transition ahead of the US election.
Mr Vance has followed that lead and gave little indication of what type of vice-president he planned to be on the campaign trail.
However, he signalled he would like to take an active role in implementing the Republicans’ border policy “and I’d basically do the exact opposite of what Kamala Harris did”.
He has also told NBC News he would like to work on addressing substance abuse, an issue he has first-hand experience with having growing up with a heroin and alcohol addicted mother. She has been sober for the last decade.
Mr Vance, one of the most outspoken sceptics of US aid to Ukraine, has also suggested he will take an active role in foreign policy.
“Our adversaries are licking their chops and the world is in disarray because of weak American leadership,” he told NBC News.
It is unclear what approach his wife, Usha, will take to the role of second lady.
Mrs Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants, will be the first Indian American to hold the role as well as the first Hindu.
She maintained a low profile during the campaign, but her husband credited her with “making it possible to do this” following the victory.