Pence sets up PAC to boost Republicans in '18 midterms

May 18 (UPI) -- Vice President Mike Pence has registered his own political action committee in an effort to boost the Republican Party in the forthcoming midterm election.

The Great America Committee, registered with the Federal Elections Commission on Wednesday, is designed to raise Pence's visibility and to channel funds to Republicans running for Congress in 2018.

"He wants to support the house and Senate members who are helping to pass the president's agenda," the PAC's director, Nick Ayers, said.

It is unusual for sitting vice presidents to establish their own campaign war chests; neither Joe Biden nor Dick Cheney -- Pence's predecessors -- set up their own fundraising committees. President George H.W. Bush did, however, establish the Fund for America's Future as he prepared for the 1988 presidential campaign.

"Launching a leadership PAC sometimes signals an intent to run for higher office, which in Pence's case, has been a topic of public interest ever since he was first nominated," Sheila Krumholz, of the Center for Responsible Politics, said.

Ayers called the registration "a legal necessity," downplaying any appearance that Pence's PAC is connected with any current Trump-related issues.