Umair
Former Vice President Mike Pence is planning to attend President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration on Monday, according to two people with knowledge of the planning.
Mr. Pence was invited by the congressional committee overseeing the event, as is the custom for all former presidents and vice presidents, according to one of the people with knowledge of the planning.
Mr. Trump selected Senator JD Vance of Ohio, rather than Mr. Pence, as his running mate in July 2024.
It is unclear what impact, if any, the request by Mr. Trump to move his second swearing-in ceremony into the Capitol Rotunda will have on the seating arrangements for former presidents and vice presidents. Unlike the outdoor dais and the seating setup, the Capitol Rotunda only seats about 600 people.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Pence declined to discuss his plans. A spokeswoman working with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which oversees the planning for the events, would not discuss Mr. Pence.
The former vice president was forced to escape a mob of pro-Trump supporters who descended on the Capitol during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, as he was presiding over the certification of President Biden’s Electoral College win. Some of them chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.”
Mr. Trump had pressed Mr. Pence to influence the outcome; Mr. Pence repeatedly said he’d researched it and didn’t have the power to do so. Their relationship was irreparably broken, and Mr. Pence ran against Mr. Trump for a brief time in the 2024 Republican primaries.
The two men saw each other recently at the funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral, and exchanged a handshake.
