Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage is scheduled to appear as a panelist Friday at a national conference for conservative activism in National Harbor, Maryland, that will feature President Trump and Vice President Pence as speakers.

According to a schedule posted on the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference’s website, LePage will be a panelist at a forum on welfare reform titled “Welfare Reform: Restoring Human Dignity and Self-Sufficiency,” starting at 4:15 p.m.

LePage has said that his administration is committed to identifying and eliminating fraud in welfare programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. Since taking office in 2011, the governor says, he has succeeded in putting a five-year cap on welfare benefits, requiring drug testing for welfare recipients convicted of drug-related crimes, and reducing benefits for non-citizens.

Trump is scheduled to address the conference at 10 a.m. at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.

Other speakers will be Pence, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House advisor Steve Bannon, and the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt.

CPAC began Wednesday and will run through Saturday, focusing on discussions to advance the president’s conservative agenda.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com