Who is Usha Vance? JD Vance's wife leaves law firm after Trump VP announcement

By Leah Sarnoff & Katherine Faulders

J.D. Vance's wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, has left her law firm following her husband being formally announced as former President Donald Trump's running mate at the Republican National Convention on Monday.

"Usha has informed us she has decided to leave the firm," a spokesperson for Munger, Tolles & Olsen told ABC News. "Usha has been an excellent lawyer and colleague, and we thank her for her years of work and wish her the best in her future career."

Before leaving the firm, Usha's practice focused on "complex civil litigation and appeals in a wide variety of sectors, including higher education, local government, entertainment, and technology, including semiconductors," according to her biography page on the firm's website, before it was removed.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images, FILE

Republican U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance embraces his wife Usha Vance after winning the primary, at an election night event at Duke Energy Convention Center, May 3, 2022, in Cincinnati.

Usha previously served as a law clerk for Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Judge Amul Thapar, then of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, according to the firm.

Born Usha Chilukuri, the wife of the newly announced VP pick, grew up in San Diego, California, and is the daughter of Indian immigrants.

She received her law degree from Yale Law School and, during her time at the institution, served as executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology, according to her biography page.

J.D. and Usha met during their time at Yale Law School and got married in Kentucky in 2014, according to the New York Times.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance arrive on the floor during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, July 15, 2024.

Usha also holds a B.A. in history from Yale University and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

During her time at Yale, Usha also went overseas to China to teach American history as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, according to the firm.

Usha is a trustee of the Washington National Opera and has served on the board of the Gates Cambridge Alumni Association and as secretary of the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, according to her bio.

J.D. and Usha Vance share three children and reside in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he serves as a U.S. Senator.