Usha Vance recently made headlines when she appeared at a public event without her wedding ring, fueling widespread speculation about her marriage to Vice President J.D. Vance.
While some saw it as a quiet signal of distance, her spokesperson offered a different explanation, saying, “She is a mother of three young children, who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes.”
Despite the rumors, Usha’s absence of a ring hasn’t been formally acknowledged by the couple as a sign of separation, and insiders insist it’s not unusual given her busy life.
The pair share three children and endless responsibilities as the second couple, which the spokesperson claims is the main reason Usha forgot her jewelry.
Take a look inside the couple’s relationship as they debunk rumors surrounding the missing ring.
J.D. Vance and Usha Chilukuri first met while both were students at Yale Law School.
Their close relationship was even encouraged by their professor, Amy Chua, who later described them as “almost opposites of personality.”
In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance calls her his “spirit guide,” saying she encouraged him to reach for opportunities he never knew existed.
Their academic partnership extended beyond romance: they organized a discussion group on “social decline in white America” while in school. They both graduated in 2013.
The couple married on June 14, 2014, in a ceremony in Kentucky that blended their different religious traditions. Their wedding featured a Bible reading by Vance’s friend, and a blessing by a Hindu pandit.
Usha was raised Hindu by her immigrant parents, and she continues to identify with her faith. Vance, meanwhile, was raised Protestant and converted to Catholicism in 2019.
Religion remains a central, yet sensitive, part of their dynamic. At a Turning Point USA event, Vance said. “Do I hope, eventually, that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that … But if she doesn’t, then … God says, ‘Everybody has free will,’ and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me.”
He also noted that “most Sundays, Usha will come with me to church.” Usha, on her part, has made it clear she has no intention of converting, saying her children are exposed to both traditions.
The Vances have three children, Ewan (born June 2017), Vivek (February 2020), and Mirabel (December 2021).
They try to shield their kids from constant public exposure, though Vance has shared rare glimpses, even once joking on Instagram about judging a rib competition while his toddler helped.
Usha has emphasized that having three kids was a deliberate decision.
Usha Vance is a distinguished attorney. She graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in history and earned an M.Phil from Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and then returned to Yale for law school.
After law school, she clerked for Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts. She later practiced at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, where she handled civil litigation, but she resigned when Vance entered the vice presidential race.
In 2025, she became the first Indian-American, first Telugu, and first Hindu Second Lady. She’s also served on the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and led the U.S. delegation to the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy.
The couple’s marriage has not been without public scrutiny. Their interfaith dynamic has drawn criticism when Vance expressed his hope that Usha might convert. Critics, including the Hindu American Foundation, saw that as dismissive of her identity.
Usha has also defended the balance they maintain, and she said their children are free to choose their own spiritual path.
Separately, Usha has faced racist attacks due to her Indian heritage. Vance has publicly defended her, calling her “brilliant” and “such a good mom.”