Usha Vance

Usha Bala Chilukuri Vance (born January 6, 1986) is an American lawyer serving as the second lady of the United States since 2025 as the wife of Vice President JD Vance. She is the first Indian American and Hindu second lady. Before becoming second lady, she served as a law clerk for multiple federal judges such as Chief Justice John Roberts, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and Judge Amul Thapar.

Chilukuri was born to Indian immigrant parents in San Diego, California. She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in history and from Yale Law School with a Juris Doctor degree.

Vance was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 2019, and work handling civil litigation and appeals in cases involving higher education, local government, entertainment, and technology. 

After her husband was announced as Donald Trump's vice-presidential nominee, she resigned from her law firm job in July 2024. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, Vance delivered an address for her husband and traveled with him to campaign events. The couple has three children together.

 Biography 

 Early life and education 
Usha Bala Chilukuri was born in 1986 in a suburb of San Diego, California, to Indian immigrants. Her father is a mechanical engineer from IIT Madras and a lecturer at San Diego State University, and her mother is a molecular biologist and provost at the University of California, San Diego. Her parents are from the Telugu community in Andhra Pradesh, India. They migrated to the U.S. in the 1980s. She was raised in San Diego's upper-middle-class Rancho Peñasquitos suburb.

In 2003, Vance graduated from Mt. Carmel High School, where she performed in the marching band. She has one sister, Shreya. Childhood friends described her as a "leader" and a "bookworm". She attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in history, with membership in Phi Beta Kappa. During her time at Yale, Vance volunteered in local elementary schools, served as a Girl Scouts troop leader, and became the editor-in-chief of Our Education, an education policy publication. After graduating, she taught English and American history as a Yale–China Teaching Fellow at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. Vance then attended Clare College, Cambridge, in England as a Gates Cambridge Scholar and then received a Master of Philosophy in early modern history in 2010.

In 2013, Vance obtained her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where she was the executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology. During her time at Yale Law, she participated in the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, and the Pro Bono Network.

 Career 
Vance served as a law clerk for Judge Amul Thapar of the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2013 to 2014, Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2014 to 2015, and Chief Justice John Roberts from 2017 to 2018. 

Vance worked for the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson for its San Francisco and Washington, D.C. offices as an associate for almost six years, handling civil cases and appeals in cases involving higher education, local government, entertainment and technology. In July 2024, when she resigned to focus on her family. Vance previously worked as a summer associate at Williams & Connolly, Taft Stettinius & Hollister, and Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz. 

She was admitted to the District of Columbia, California and Ohio bar. Vance has served on the board of the Gates Cambridge Alumni Association and as secretary of the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

 2024 presidential election 
In July 2024, Vance attended the Republican National Convention where her husband, JD Vance was chosen as Donald Trump's running mate. She later delivered an introductory address for her husband. Vance then traveled with him to campaign events, often appearing onstage with him and helped her husband prepare for the 2024 vice-presidential debate against Democrat Tim Walz. On November 6, 2024, her husband was elected the 50th vice president of the United States.

 Second Lady of the United States (2025–present) 
Vance became the second lady of the United States when her husband was sworn-in as the 50th U.S. vice president on January 20, 2025. She is the first Indian American, Telugu, Hindu, and Millennial second lady in U.S. history. 
In February, Vance accompanied her husband on a state visit to France and Germany. In the same month, President Trump appointed her to serve as a member of the board of trustees of John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In March 2025, Vance was selected to lead the U.S. presidential delegation to Italy for the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
Vance and her husband met with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his wife Mary at the vice president's residence to highlight and celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. She also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside her husband during a state visit in France.

In January 2026, Vance announced that she was pregnant with her fourth child, making her the first spouse of a vice president to be pregnant while holding the title of second lady.

References

Category:1986 births
Category:Living people
Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States
Category:Lawyers from San Francisco
Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
Category:People from New Delhi
Category:Lawyers from San Diego
Category:Second ladies and second gentlemen of the United States