10-17-2017, 01:57 AM
Below an excerpt from an article from Vox, which itself is a summary from the New Yorker. In essence, Pence is has been able to shape policies to a bigger extent than anyone else and it's all in the direction of his backers, the Koch brothers.
Quote:During the 2016 primaries, one of Trump’s main attacks on his Republican opponents was that they were “puppets” of the Koch brothers, accepting donations from the billionaires. A billionaire himself, Trump made a point of saying he didn’t need to accept donations from anyone else. He ultimately did, accepting more than $79 million in Super PAC money, but the Kochs made a point not to donate to his presidential campaign.How the Kochs are using Mike Pence to shape Trump's White House - Vox
Pence has been closely affiliated with the Koch brothers since he was a Congress member from Indiana. He helped boost the “No Climate Tax” pledge by their political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, convincing other politicians to sign on. Many of Pence’s former political staffers have gone on to work for Koch Industries and their affiliated advocacy groups, and some have come back to work in the White House; a former Pence staffer named Marc Short now serves as the head of legislative affairs in the White House, and has close ties to the Koch brothers. Pence also helped boost Cabinet members including DeVos and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, both Koch favorites. Democrats and Steve Bannon alike have openly complained about the Kochs’ influence on Pence. The vice president is, as the saying goes, only a heartbeat away from the presidency. Contemplating the possibility of Pence as president, Bannon told Mayer, “I’m concerned he’d be a president that the Kochs would own.”