(NewsNation) — Sen. JD Vance, the Republican from Ohio who was once one of former President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics, is now the Vice-President-elect for his incoming administration.
Vance officially entered the 2024 election as Trump’s running mate in July. Trump announced him as vice presidential pick on Truth Social as the Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The morning after Trump won the election, Vance put out a statement on X saying thank you to “my beautiful wife for making it possible to do this” and the President-elect “for giving me such an opportunity to serve our country at this level.” He also expressed appreciation “to the American people, for their trust.”
“I will never stop fighting for ALL of you,” Vance wrote.
JD Vance before politics
James David Vance is a Republican U.S. senator from Ohio.
Swept to national prominence by his bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance has held office for less than two years. During his short time in the Senate, the former venture capitalist from Ohio has established himself as one of the fiercest defenders of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, especially when it comes to foreign policy, trade and immigration.
Despite early criticism of Trump, Vance has forged a close relationship with the former president and his son Donald Trump Jr., who has talked up the senator.
Vance has become a fixture of the conservative media circuit, frequently spars with reporters on Capitol Hill and has appeared with Trump at fundraisers and in court.
After high school, Vance joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Iraq. He then attended Ohio State University and later Yale Law School, where he graduated in 2013.
Vance is married to his law school classmate Usha Chilukuri Vance, with whom he has three children.
Before entering politics, Vance worked in the technology industry in Silicon Valley and later moved back to Ohio to start his own investment firm.
JD Vance’s path to Congress
Vance’s journey to Congress began with his rising profile as a conservative voice after his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” catapulted him into the national spotlight. The book’s exploration of working-class issues and cultural decline in the Rust Belt resonated with readers and policymakers supportive of Vance’s views.
In 2021, Vance announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate vacancy left by retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Despite initial skepticism from some Republicans who cited Vance’s past criticisms of Trump, the author turned politician secured Trump’s endorsement during the primary. The former president’s support proved crucial in a crowded Republican field.
In the general election, Vance faced Democratic candidate Tim Ryan in a race the nation watched closely. Vance ultimately won and took office in January 2023.
JD Vance and Donald Trump
Vance’s relationship with Trump has been complex.
In 2016, Vance was one of Trump’s loudest critics, casting the then-reality TV star as “a total fraud,” a “moral disaster” and “America’s Hitler.”
However, Vance’s stance shifted as Trump’s influence in the Republican Party grew.
By the time of his Senate run, Vance had become a strong supporter of Trump and his policies. Trump’s endorsement in the 2022 Ohio Republican primary was seen as a major factor in Vance’s victory.
The senator also has strong connections with donors in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.
Since entering the Senate, Vance has generally aligned himself with Trump’s political agenda and style.
He has said Trump’s performance in office proved him wrong, and the senator castigates the liberals who made his book a bestseller as they sought a window into understanding Trumpism.
Vance’s political stances
As senator, Vance has not sponsored or co-sponsored any legislation that became law, according to Spectrum News. During his first term in office so far, he’s gotten a 93% score from the conservative advocacy organization Heritage Action for America.
Bills he has introduced include ones to criminalize gender-reassignment procedures for minors and one that would require a study on how people’s health was affected by a Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Vance, as well as Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who also represents Ohio, have been vocal about the need for more transparency around the train derailment.
Abortion
Vance is opposed to abortion and declared himself “100% pro-life” during his 2022 Senate run. As far as exceptions for rape and incest, Vance told The Washington Post in 2021, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
His policy has appeared to change in recent months, with the lawmaker telling CNN in December 2023 that the Republican Party must “accept that people do not want blanket abortion bans. They just don’t. And I say that as a person who wants to protect as many unborn babies as possible. We have to provide exceptions for life of the mother, for rape, and so forth.”
In his first interview since joining the GOP ticket, Vance told Fox News’ Sean Hannity he stands with Trump’s position that abortion rights should be left to the states.
“It is reasonable to let voters in states make those decisions,” Vance said. “Doesn’t mean we have to agree with it, but you have to have some respect for the political process.”
Economy
Trump’s campaign partner has built a brand on economic populism, diverting from the GOP’s traditional pro-business platform.
Vance partnered with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to crack down on big banks. Abroad, Vance has made his stance on the war in Ukraine clear, opting to reject any U.S. aid for the country. He was also a key figure in the unsuccessful attempt to block a $60 billion supplemental aid package to Ukraine.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we’re focused on this border on Ukraine,” Vance said in a podcast interview with Steve Bannon. “I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”
Crime
Vance has called for a tough-on-crime approach, including wanting tougher prosecutors and limits on lawsuits filed against police.
That tough approach, however, does not necessarily apply equally across the board. In his time in the Senate, Vance has sponsored or signed on to bills that would keep federal funds from universities that don’t crack down on campus protests, block people convicted of a crime while protesting on campus from having loans forgiven and blocked certain types of federal funding from cities that don’t cooperate with immigration authorities. He’s also advocated for bills that would criminalize those who provide gender-affirming care for minors.
At the same time. Vance supported legislation that would roll back protections that buffer patients visiting abortion clinics from interacting with protesters and has also condemned laws that would enact police reforms like banning chokeholds and requiring body cameras to be worn.
Guns
Vance has opposed restrictions on weapons and laws that make it easier to prevent those with a history of mental health issues from buying or keeping guns.
He has opposed red flag laws that allow authorities to take weapons from those believed to be a danger to others, bans on semiautomatic weapons, bump stock bans and object to a law that enhanced background checks for those under 21 and closed a loophole that allowed people convicted of domestic violence to buy guns.
Vance also supports abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and wants to repeal the 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act.
He also wants to establish a nationwide stand-your-ground law allowing people to defend themselves with deadly force and wants to prohibit federal funds from being used to enforce gun control laws and regulations.
Foreign Policy
Vance’s views on foreign policy are isolationist in some areas while being hawkish in others, similar to Trump’s views.
Vance has openly opposed continued U.S. aid to Ukraine, though he hasn’t suggested stepping back from NATO to the extent Trump has.
At the same time, he has advocated for arming Israel with no conditions on the use of weapons and suggested the U.S. send troops into Mexico to fight cartels. He’s also suggested increasing U.S. aid and presence in East Asia.
Immigration
Vance’s views on immigration fall in line with Trump’s hard-line stance on the border.
He stoked controversy when he repeated baseless claims about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, claims that resulted in bomb threats against institutions in the city even as officials denied any credible reports of people eating pets.
Vance supports completing the border wall started during the first Trump administration and “shutting down the border.” He has also advocated for states being allowed to construct their own border barriers.
Vance has blamed immigrants for increased housing costs and suggested they are taking jobs from Americans. He has backed Trump’s plan to enact mass deportations and suggested that asylum seekers be treated the same as other immigrants who have crossed illegally.
He’s supported an end to birthright citizenship and advocated removing access to health insurance from DACA recipients. He has not supported any efforts to strengthen legal pathways to citizenship.
Vance has also gone on record opposing refugee resettlement programs and programs that offer people temporary protected status due to dangerous conditions in their home countries.
Social Security
Vance has gone on record opposing cuts to Social Security but has admitted the program is facing budget challenges.
He has opposed the idea of raising taxes to make up for the shortfall and instead suggested that what America needs is more workers. To get them, he has advocated for cuts to welfare benefits.
LGBTQ issues
Vance has opposed gender-affirming care for transgender minors, including suggesting that doctors who provide care like hormone blockers face criminal penalties. He has also opposed federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.
Vance has also opposed efforts to allow gender markers other than male and female on IDs and appears to support laws that prohibit schools from discussing LGBTQ issues, including as they apply to LGBTQ students or families.
He has also defended referring to LGBTQ people as “groomers,” saying that opposition to anti-LGBTQ instruction laws constitutes grooming.
Women’s issues
Vance’s comments on women have sparked controversy. He has accused Democratic women of being “childless cat ladies” intent on making everyone miserable and suggested the only purpose of post-menopausal women is to care for grandchildren.
He previously referred to the idea of universal daycare as a war against “normal people” and has derided people who get divorced, praising previous generations for sticking out marriage even when there is domestic violence.
Impact on his Ohio seat
With Vance set to assume the vice presidency next year, there will be a vacancy for his seat in the Senate. According to Ohio law, the governor has power to appoint a temporary replacement to serve until the next general election.
Under state law, the governor must pick “some suitable person having the necessary qualifications for senate.”
DeWine hasn’t named any potential choices publicly, nor has Vance announced possible suggestions, but several contenders could be in the running, reported The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Ohio voters would have the opportunity to elect a new senator to complete Vance’s term in the next general election.
JD Vance’s ties to Project 2025
Like Trump, Vance has tried to steer clear of associations with Project 2025.
Although he didn’t have a hand in writing the conservative policy playbook, he has close ties with those who did.
Vance wrote a foreword for a forthcoming book by the leader of The Heritage Foundation, the group behind Project 2025, which sparked speculation on the degree of separation between the vice presidential nominee and the plan.
Vance has also applauded Kevin Roberts for helping to turn The Heritage Foundation “into the de facto institutional home of Trumpism,” Politico reported.
The Ohio senator has endorsed some parts of Project 2025, saying that “there are some good ideas in there” while rejecting others.
“There are some things I disagree with,” he said in an interview with the conservative outlet Newsmax.
A spokesperson for Vance previously issued a statement saying the Republican vice presidential nominee has no involvement and “plenty of disagreements with what they’re calling for.”
Vance controversies
Vance’s comments calling prominent Democrats “childless cat ladies” resurfaced in the summer and drew criticism.
The comments came from a 2021 interview with former Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson. Vance claimed the U.S. was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”
The then-Senate candidate specifically mentioned Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as examples.
Some women have since jokingly reclaimed the age-old trope.
Comments Vance made in 2021 about “violent” marriages also circulated online and sparked controversy. Vance made the remarks at an event at Pacifica Christian High School in Southern California. He previously said his comments had been misconstrued.
Vance had been responding to a question by a moderator referencing his grandparents’ relationship, which he detailed in his bestselling book “Hillbilly Elegy.” In the book, Vance described the couple’s marriage as violent but wrote that they reconciled once he was born and helped raise him.
“This is one of the great tricks that I think the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace, which is the idea that like, ‘Well, OK, these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy, and so getting rid of them and making it easier for people to shift spouses like they change their underwear, that’s going to make people happier in the long term,’” Vance said, according to a 2022 Vice article.
He went on to say that while that might have worked out for the parents involved, “it really didn’t work out for the kids of those marriages.”
“That’s what I think all of us should be honest about, is we’ve run this experiment in real time,” Vance said. “And what we have is a lot of very, very real family dysfunction that’s making our kids unhappy.”
The Ohio senator also faced backlash in September after promoting false claims Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are abducting and eating pets as he tried to draw attention to Democratic presidential nominee Harris’ immigration policies. Officials have said there have been no credible or detailed reports about the claims.
Some critics have also taken issue with Vance’s book, saying it paints a stereotypical and inauthentic view of Appalachia.
The Associated Press, NewsNation partner The Hill, NewsNation’s Tanya Noury and Safia Samee Ali contributed to this story.