Vance, a first-term senator, has taken a more active role in government intervention in the economy than most Republicans and has emerged as leader of a minority faction of Republican senators that includes Sens. Josh Hawley (Missouri) and Marco Rubio (Fla.). Vance has praised President Biden's antitrust crusaders on the Federal Trade Commission, called for a higher minimum wage, and even once called for higher corporate taxes — all positions anathema to conservatives. This departure is especially striking when compared with Trump's first-term vice president, Mike Pence, who branded himself a Ronald Reagan disciple by embodying Republican orthodoxy on everything from deficits to taxes, and former House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee known for his free-market orthodoxy.
“It's pretty clear to most of the party's leadership that the future is going to be Vance, Hawley and Rubio. Having one of them on the nomination is a very important indicator, or in some ways a confirmation, of where the Republican Party is currently headed on key economic issues,” said Oren Cass, a Vance ally and president of American Compass, a think tank with close ties to GOP economic populists. “Vance has a very clear view of what he calls Republican 'market fundamentalism' – the failure of consensus economic policies over the past few decades.”
Vance's predecessor, former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), was also seen as having close ties to the party's traditional Republican policy makers.
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“Trump has split the populist and aggressive wing of the Republican Party on economic policy, and Vance is one of the leaders of that populist wing,” said Brian Riedl, a former aide to Portman who is now at the center-right Manhattan Institute think tank. “Trump is more economically populist and anti-free trade than traditional Republicans, and Vance has been a vocal advocate for this new populist economic agenda within the Republican Party.”
Mr. Vance's rise has infuriated Republican elites. Many of the party's major donors, including Kenneth C. Griffin, the billionaire president of hedge fund Citadel, opposed his selection, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Mr. Griffin said in a statement that Mr. Trump had “a number of good choices for the position of vice president, and I appreciate the thoughtful consideration of the president and his team.”
Pence is now affiliated with a conservative think tank that is working to counter Vance and his allies' influence on economic policy. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has also opposed Vance and favored North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who espouses more traditional Republican economic views, according to two other people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. (Murdoch's preference for Burgum and opposition to Vance was first reported by NOTUS.)
Mr. Vance's ties to Mr. Cass's American Compass Group and his support for FTC Chairman Lina Khan have raised concerns among top corporate executives and donors, according to a senior business insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. Mr. Vance said earlier this year that Ms. Khan was “doing a pretty good job,” citing the FTC's crackdown on big tech companies.
“He has a lot of unconventional views on the economy that are at odds with a lot of what conservative Republicans have traditionally stood for,” said a Republican strategist in an interview before the nomination was announced, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conversation was private. “Big donors and business leaders would be disappointed if he were selected as vice president.”
Nevertheless Vance is now one of the leaders of a party that, despite differences, adheres to many of the tenets of traditional free-market ideology: deregulating corporations, lowering taxes, reducing federal spending on social programs and limiting the power of the U.S. government — all key priorities not only for the Republican Party as a whole but also for Trump.
For example, Trump has called for an extension of the Republican 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which slashed corporate and estate taxes and was heavily criticized as a boon to the wealthy. The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates that the law would save middle-income taxpayers an average of $900 in 2025, while the top 1% of taxpayers are estimated to save $61,000 that year.
Grover Norquist, president of the American Tax Reform Association, which advocates for tax cuts, said Vance had signed the association's pledge not to support tax increases.
“He's a supporter of the Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump tax cuts and has made that clear every time he's spoken on the issue,” Norquist said. “People sometimes point to him saying, 'I'm from Appalachia,' as if that means he's open to populist politics.”
Democrats also say the change the Republican Party's new vanguard represents has been overstated. They say Vance may lean in a more populist direction, but he is more likely to toe the line on Trump policies that are strongly supported by big business groups. He still falls far short of the scale of government intervention Democrats support. Vance has said Biden's policies are needed to address the numerous crises facing families, including child care, health care and housing. Vance opposed Biden's Inflation Control Act, which would have put hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy subsidies to revive domestic manufacturing. While some major donors may oppose his elevation, Vance has long-standing ties to Republican megadonor and billionaire Peter Thiel.
“What they're trying to do is exploit the cultural and social characteristics of the white working class while actually reducing income at the top and redistributing it to the bottom as much as possible. It's a delicate game they're playing,” said Matt Bruenig, co-founder of the left-leaning People's Policy Project. “Clearly, redistribution through the welfare state and the tax system is not going to happen, which are essential to creating an equal society.”
But on some issues, the shift from traditional Republican rhetoric is clear.
In March 2017, Vance pointed out that “when it comes to housing policy, the Democrats are actually the rational party.”
In February 2020, Vance criticized conservative-backed “right to work” policies that would severely restrict unions' ability to organize.
“We will raise taxes and do whatever it takes to fight these scoundrels. It's time to choose between the American Republic or a global oligarchy,” Vance said on the social media site then known as Twitter in April 2021, after business executives discussed how to respond to Republican changes to state voting laws.
Raise your taxes and do whatever it takes to fight this scoundrel. The time has come to choose between the American Republic and a global oligarchy. https://t.co/WYFEYpiTyz
— JD Vance (@JDVance1) April 12, 2021
Last year, Vance criticized Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's Social Security reform plan. It has been characterized as an attempt to “cut social security and send more cash to Ukraine.”
Despite having worked as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, Vance's comments about the “financialization” of the U.S. economy were particularly striking for a Republican.
“Our economy is based on consumption, debt, financialization and laziness,” he wrote in The American Mind in 2020. “For 20 years, America has consumed a lot and made little, but there was no better industry than moving counterfeit money from one place to another.”
Vance, along with Rubio and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), have called for government intervention to revitalize the U.S. defense industrial base. Asked about President Trump's plan to impose a 10% tariff on all imports that even many Republicans worry would disrupt the global economy, Vance defended the “broad-based tariffs,” saying “we need to protect American industry from all competition.”
Saurabh Sharma, president of American Moment, a pro-Trump conservative group that focuses on training congressional and presidential staff, also pointed to Vance's stances on immigration and foreign policy. Vance has strongly criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine and has advocated for a tougher immigration crackdown than most Republicans support, at odds with more traditional Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“Senator Vance has taken up the revolution in economic orthodoxy that President Trump brought to his party and become its number one defender in the Senate,” Sharma said.
