Second lady Usha Vance has pulled back the curtain on her marriage to Vice President JD Vance, admitting that the couple don’t always agree on the issues shaping the nation, and making clear she is not part of his political operation.
‘I’m not his staffer. I’m not involved in this in any professional sense. There’s no expectation that we are going to see eye to eye on everything,’ Usha said in a candid interview with NBC News.
Her remarks offer a rare glimpse inside one of Washington’s most closely watched relationships, revealing a dynamic built not on political uniformity but on personal trust and, at times, disagreement.
‘The expectation is that we are going to be open-minded and have a conversation, and that I’ll provide meaningful input from, you know, the perspective of someone who loves him and wants him to succeed,’ she continued. ‘So even if we don’t agree, it’s – I think it’s always very productive.’
The second lady spoke during a 30-minute sit-down ahead of the launch of her new podcast, Storytime With the Second Lady, which is aimed at young children.
While she distanced herself from any formal advisory role, Vance made clear she still plays a deeply personal part in her husband’s decision-making.
‘There are conversations all the time,’ she said. ‘I do really like to understand what’s going on in his world, what he’s really focused on, what concerns he has, because it’s a marriage. I mean, I want to be supportive of him, and if I don’t really know what’s going on, then I can’t do that.’
She added that while the vice president has a full team of policy advisers, he turns to her in more personal moments.
Usha Vance said she and Vice President JD Vance ‘don’t always see eye to eye on every issue’
During a lengthy interview the second lady said she provides ‘meaningful input’ from the perspective of someone who loves him and wants him to succeed. Pictured, Vance is sworn in as US vice president in January 2025
‘He comes to me when something is troubling him or when he really wants to talk through something that feels more, kind of, intensely personal or important personally,’ she said.
Despite growing speculation about a potential White House bid in 2028, Usha said future political ambitions are not dominating conversations at home.
‘JD is very focused on the midterm elections right now, on all the things that are happening right this moment, which are obviously exceedingly important,’ she said. ‘And so if you come back in 2027 and ask me, I’ll have a better sense of, you know, what he’s thinking in that way. But that’s not the priority in our conversations.’
The vice president himself struck a similar tone in a December NBC News interview.
‘I try to not wake up and ever think, “What does this mean for my future?” I always try to think, “How can I do a good job right now,” right?’ he said at the time. ‘And that’s one of the reasons why I’ve tried to steer away from the 2028 conversation. … I never want the focus on the future to come at the expense of this job.’
Usha Vance, 40, who was registered as a Democrat until at least 2014 and later voted Republican when her husband ran for Senate, said she has never felt pressure to conform politically.
‘I do feel very comfortable in that no one has ever asked me to engage in any kind of litmus test on anything,’ she said. ‘And what I’ve found is that I was myself in 2014. I can be myself today. And I feel very comfortable in that world.
‘I don’t feel like I have to walk around pretending anything of any sort,’ she added. ‘Sometimes I have thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another. Sometimes I have views that are way more idiosyncratic.’
Usha Vance was registered as a Democrat until at least 2014 before later voting Republican. She said she feels comfortable in her current political environment and does not feel the need to ‘pretend’ when it comes to her views
The couple, who already have three children ages four, six and eight, are expecting a fourth child, a boy, in July
The Vances children are seen looking for attention during the GOP convention in 2024
As the first Hindu second lady, Usha said she does not feel weighed down by the historic nature of her role.
‘Everything about this is so novel that this is just one element of the novelty, in many ways,’ she said.
At the same time, she is navigating another first: becoming a mother while living in the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory.
The couple, who already have three children ages four, six and eight, are expecting a fourth child, a boy, in July, making them the first vice presidential family in modern history to welcome a baby while in office.
Usha also addressed her husband’s recent remark at an event where he revealed how he had persuaded his wife to have another child.
‘I remember when we decided to run for vice president, I said, ‘Honey, I really want to have a fourth kid.’ And she said, ‘Well, you can become vice president or you can have a fourth baby,’ the vice president recounted. ‘But, ladies and gentlemen, I am persuasive, because I got both.’
Usha laughed off the quip, saying that he did persuade her, ‘in a manner of speaking,’ though she added, ‘I’ve never closed the door on that.’
The second lady said she does not feel pressure as the first Hindu second lady, calling it just one part of the role’s ‘novelty’. The couple are pictured at the Winter Olympics in February
The Vances are expecting their fourth child, a boy, in July
The Vances are seen along with their children Mirabel and Ewan disembarking from Air Force Two in February
Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance step off Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland earlier this month
‘I grew up in a family of two. And I thought that was a great number. And then I had two kids, and I thought – I didn’t feel quite done, right?’ she said. ‘So I really wanted to have a third child.’
‘We have our daughter, who’s amazing, and it was great. And so I just wasn’t sure. But as time passed, I realized that I was feeling more and more, kind of, excited about that possibility.
‘And so if there was a chance, I should take it, and I knew that I’d be happy if we only had three kids, and I knew that I’d be happy if we had four. And so here we are.’
Even amid the demands of public life, she said the family tries to maintain a sense of normalcy.
‘We have our neighborhood shops. We have our Costco membership,’ she said. ‘It’s just sort of a family tradition. It’s the kind of stuff that you don’t want to let go when you have a family life and you move into something like the Naval Observatory.’
Her upcoming podcast reflects another priority: that of literacy.
While at Yale Law School, Usha Chilukuri met her future husband, JD Vance, a relationship encouraged by their professor Amy Chua
Chilukuri and Vance married on June 14, 2014, in Kentucky in an interfaith marriage ceremony. Her husband’s friend read from the Bible and a Hindu pandit blessed the couple
‘It’s a podcast that really is just for children,’ she said, explaining that each episode will feature a guest reading a book followed by a short discussion.
She said the idea grew out of teaching her own children to read, and concern over broader trends.
‘I’ve taught all of them to read now. Our four-year-old is just at the end of the early process,’ she said.
She added that declining literacy rates are ‘worrisome,’ and helped drive her decision to launch the project.
‘If I was going to do anything, this would be the thing to focus on at this moment in time,’ she said.
