“It’s one of these jobs where it’s impossible to completely disconnect from it,” Vance, 41, previously explained
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/jd-vance-052125-fbd9d446402a45da934717ad7669048d.jpg "JD Vance during a FIFA Task Force meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025")
Credit: Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha welcomed their fourth child, Alec Neel Vance, on Sunday, July 19
- Alec’s birth marks only the second time in U.S. history that a vice president has fathered a newborn in office, and the first time in over 150 years
- The VP plans to balance work and family rather than taking a traditional paternity leave, while Usha is expected to take an extended break from the public eye
Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance have welcomed their fourth child. However, the vice president doesn’t have any plans to take a “formal” paternity leave.
“It’s one of these jobs where it’s impossible to completely disconnect from it,” JD, 41, told NBC News in May as he previewed his plan for navigating the family’s new addition.
“The good thing about having a little bit of control over your schedule in your life is that you can incorporate your kids in your job in a way that they love,” JD added at the time. “I think it’ll mean the kids are probably here at the White House more than they have been the last few months, and I’ll probably be at home a little bit more, and we’ll just make it work.”
As for the second lady, JD told NBC she planned to “take a long period out of the public eye.”
When reached for comment about the Vances’ plans for parental leave, the VP’s office referred PEOPLE to JD’s past comments to NBC.
The couple announced the birth of their son in a joint social media post on Sunday, July 19.
“We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning,” they wrote. “Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother.”
“The incredible military doctors and staff members of Walter Reed Medical Center and the White House Medical Unit have been a blessing,” the couple added. “We are deeply thankful for all they have done for our family.”
The following day, on Monday, July 20, President Donald Trump shared the first public photo of Alec being held by his brother Vivek beside his sister, Mirabel.
“Congratulations! A perfect baby boy for the wonderful Vance family,” Trump, 80, wrote on Truth Social.
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On Jan. 20, the pair revealed she Usha was pregnant on Instagram.
Alec’s birth marked only the second known time a second lady has given birth while serving in the role — and the first such birth in more than 150 years.
The previous instance was in 1870, when second lady Ellen Wade Colfax, the wife of Vice President Schuyler Colfax Jr. during the Grant administration, gave birth to a son.
The Vances’ new baby arrived around the time that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who welcomed a daughter in May, formally returned from maternity leave, and weeks after controversial White House homeland security adviser Stephen Miller and his wife, conservative podcaster Katie Miller, welcomed their fourth child.