'Tough road back': Never-Trump GOP quietly unites behind a surprising political operator

Republicans fed up with former President Donald Trump are quietly uniting behind a political operator who barely escaped his moment in the MAGA movement crosshairs, according to a new report.

The former lawmaker is laying the groundwork for the Republican Party to return to its pre-populism days should Trump fail to reclaim the White House this year, Semafor reported Thursday.

“At some point we’re going to have to gravitate around a clear policy agenda,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) told Semafor. "Mike Pence is very well equipped to do that.”

Pence, Trump's former vice president who drew ire from the MAGA world for refusing to play along in Trump's 2020 election games, is quietly recruiting allies interested in returning the Republican Party to its traditional conservative values, according to the report.

Those allies include Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) who admitted to Semafor there's likely no space for Pence in the current GOP, but reportedly said, “The Republican Party of tomorrow may be a different matter."

Despite vocal support from several key lawmakers, Pence faces what Semafor described as a "tough road back."

ALSO READ: 'I want Vance to apologize': We went to Springfield and found community hurt — and divided

"He doesn’t have the same rabid fan base as other leaders in the party — his presidential run confirmed that," Semafor reported. "Pence also faces criticism from Trump allies for being 'disloyal' to the former president."

What Pence does have is quiet respect from fellow GOP members who consider him the party's "conscience" with his unwavering commitment to putting an end to a woman's right to receive an abortion and a determination to cut taxes as he and Trump did in 2017, Semafor reported.

“Pence and their organization have done a good job of focusing on the issues and not being antagonistic to [former] President Trump,” one senior Republican staffer told Semafor.

“There are a lot of people here who maybe don’t agree with the [former] president on all policy matters and might align more with the vice president."