Pence collected about $1 million from donors for his new leadership committee, which can, in turn, dole out checks to political candidates. Ivanka Trump spoke glowingly of Pence and said his political committee would be helpful to Republicans facing 2018 congressional races. Pence's advisers said they needed to form a federal political committee to warehouse donor and supporter lists he had amassed as governor of Indiana, where he had a state-level political committee.