Gingrich: I'll lead Trump effort to 'rethink' and 'reformulate the entire federal government'

Newt Gingrich has lost the veepstakes, but to hear the former speaker of the House tell it Friday, he has been planning on being in Donald Trump's administration regardless of whether he was the VP nominee.

“I will be sort of the leader in how we rethink and how we reformulate the entire federal government," Gingrich told The Mike Gallagher Show in an interview before Trump announced that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence would be his running mate. "And that’s what I want to do, that’s what I think I’d be good at."


"Donald and I have already talked about that as an option if I don’t end up as the vice presidential nominee," Gingrich continued. "But I will play as significant a role as possible getting us back on the right track and reforming our government so that it functions again on behalf of the American people instead of behalf of lobbyists and bureaucrats.”

And as Ben Carson sees it, Gingrich "will be a large part of the administration and will have significant influence."

The retired neurosurgeon, who left Trump's vice presidential selection team in May, praised the presumptive Republican nominee's choice of Pence as a "fabulous pick" during an appearance Friday afternoon on Fox News Channel.

Pence will "complement" Trump's ability to "get things done," Carson said, disputing the notion that the businessman himself would have difficulty with Congress.

"And also, don't forget, there will be others around too," Carson remarked, boosting the former speaker of the House for his skills and "wealth of knowledge that will be useful to the United States."