Vice President JD Vance will be the new finance chair of the Republican National Committee as his party looks to grow its congressional majority in 2026.
The RNC announced this unprecedented move in a press release Tuesday, noting it’s the “first time” in the group’s history that a sitting vice president will simultaneously serve in this role. With this appointment, Vance will succeed the outgoing finance chair ambassador, Duke Buchan, whom President Donald Trump recently appointed to be the next U.S. ambassador to Morocco.
“JD will do a fantastic job as RNC Finance Chair,” Trump said. “He knows how to fight and win tough races.”
In the press release, Vance added that “to fully enact the MAGA mandate,” the Republican Party “must keep and grow” its majorities in the 2026 midterm elections. He also pledged to “build the war chest we need to deliver those victories next November.”
Republicans’ decision to anoint Vance to lead its fundraising operation suggests that the party is fully embracing the vice president as the heir to Trump’s throne. Indeed, this new role will surely give Vance access to every RNC megadonor when he likely readies for a 2028 presidential run.
Top allies of Trump’s, including his own son, have said publicly that Vance is Trump’s likely successor.
“I think it’s inevitable at this point that Vance will be the [GOP] nominee in 2028,” Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana told Axios. “He’s the future of the America First movement and he's already proven himself.”
While 2028 is a while away, Vance is already something of a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. A new survey from Echelon Insights finds that a plurality of Republican likely voters (46%) would vote for Vance if the 2028 presidential primary were held today. Tied for second place—and behind Vance by nearly 40 percentage points—were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, all of whom received 7% support in the poll.
If Vance’s new role signals his growing power in MAGA-land, he will likely not want for cash. After all, in January, Trump’s team predicted it would have an eye-popping $500 million on hand by this summer.
Vance has displayed a sort of fundraising prowess of his own too. He has significant relationships with conservative megadonors, including tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who employed Vance at one point. Since becoming a fixture in Trump’s orbit, Vance has probably solidified support from any onetime naysayers. On the campaign trail in 2024, for instance, he headlined several fundraising events for the president.
Of course, whether Vance ultimately becomes Trump’s successor could heavily depend on their party’s performance in the 2026 midterms. Historically, the president’s party tends to underperform these years, as evidenced by the blue wave that rocked the nation in 2018.
On Monday, the RNC announced that it planned to target 26 House Democrats—though that list is expected to grow.
Republicans also say they view Vance’s appointment as a sign that the White House and the RNC are “in lockstep.” As one RNC official told Fox News, “Everyone is laser-focused on growing our majorities in 2026, and we are going to aggressively fundraise to be ready for next year.”
Still, it’s unclear how Vance will find the time to raise the cash needed to help the GOP. Perhaps incessantly posting on social media and serving as vice president isn’t enough of a full-time gig.
Campaign Action