The vice president, who maintained a busy travel schedule in the weeks before the election, has made scant public appearances since Election Day and has yet to take questions from reporters. Privately, he’s toeing the line — but publicly he’s remained under the radar in the wake of the election which handed Biden a decisive victory.
Pence’s office did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.
On Tuesday, Pence spoke with Senate Republicans behind closed doors. On Wednesday, he is expected to join the President and first lady at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Veterans Day, and on Friday, he’s expected to address the Council for National Policy.
After it was publicly reported that he was going on vacation as Trump is attempting to contest the outcome of the election, Pence canceled a planned trip to Sanibel Island with his family.
The weather in Sanibel Island is also poor this week as Hurricane Eta hits. Local officials said they were concerned about potential flooding.
Pence had referenced that expected vacation during his Tuesday meeting on Capitol Hill, a source familiar with the conversation said. During the meeting, Pence also provided an overview of the campaign’s election legal challenges, as well as Covid-19 vaccine progress and the US Senate races in Georgia, which are headed for runoffs.
And though he has been a visible presence on television at key moments — participating in network morning show appearances during the Democratic National Convention in August, the beginning of the pandemic in March, and after the Soleimani raid in January — Pence has yet to do so since the election.
Members of Congress, many of whom have been publicly supportive of the President’s efforts to challenge election results, are taking note.
“You’ve got the entire party out there and no VP?” one Capitol Hill aide lamented to CNN.
The vice president, who is widely reported to have presidential ambitions himself, has expressed support for his boss in a tweet.
Trump has yet to provide any evidence to back up claims of voter fraud.
Pence has also declined to take a public-facing role as coronavirus task force leader amid record new cases and hospitalizations nationwide.
Pence has also failed to lead the once-weekly task force conference call with the nation’s governors as the pandemic has intensified.
The calls, which are substantive and mainly focus on communicating trends and new information to state executives, have largely happened weekly since the pandemic began. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar hosted a call as Pence was on the campaign trail on October 30. Azar also led a call on October 13. Pence, who has led a vast majority of the calls, has not been on a governors’ call in well over a month, his last appearance coming on September 29.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.