WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, on Sunday announced the birth of their fourth child, the first born to a sitting vice president in more than 150 years.
Born Sunday, Alec Neel Vance joins older siblings Ewan, 9; Vivek, 6; and Mirabel, 4.
Vance announced the birth on social media with a statement signed by him and his wife.
“We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning. Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother,” the statement said.
They thanked doctors and staff at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and with the White House medical team.
The Republican vice president’s growing family is in keeping with his passionate advocacy for Americans to have more children. He has also suggested that the 2025 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was his friend, factored into the decision to have another child.
Vance, a former U.S. Marine, repeatedly expressed alarm about declining birth rates in America as he launched his political career in 2021 with a bid for a U.S. Senate seat from Ohio. As vice president, he said in Washington at the 2025 March for Life anti-abortion rally, “I want more babies in the United States of America.”
The vice president, who’s 41, has been accompanied on overseas trips by Usha Vance, 40, and their children, with the kids often pajama-clad as they board Air Force Two for the overnight flights.
Usha Vance, the daughter of immigrants from India, had already been the subject of some public fascination because of her husband. Her pregnancy, which was announced in January, amplified that spotlight since it is rare for occupants of the United States’ highest public offices to add to their families while serving.
The last time a sitting vice president became a new father was in the 1800s.
Schuyler Colfax and his second wife, Ellen Wade, had a son, Schuyler Colfax III, in 1870 when Colfax was serving as vice president, according to the White House Historical Association. Decades before that, John C. Calhoun and his wife, Floride Bonneau, had a son, William, in 1829 when Calhoun was vice president, the association said.
The newest addition to Vance’s family was part of a recent mini baby boom among top members of President Donald Trump’s administration. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, recently gave birth to the couple’s fourth child, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had her second child with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, in May.
Usha Vance recently came under scrutiny after The New York Times’ fashion critic called attention to the stomach-hugging, coral maternity dress she wore for a Father’s Day episode of “Storytime with the Second Lady,” a video podcast she launched during the pregnancy.
The Times wrote that the attention that Vance, Miller and Leavitt had put on their pregnancies offered “an image of idealized womanhood that gives literal shape to the pronatalist movement,” which encourages couples to have as many children as possible to counter declining birth rates.
The second lady responded on social media, writing, “Now that we know the political significance of my $8.75 coral maternity dress from Old Navy, can’t wait to hear what the New York Times has to say about my elastic-waistband pants and compression socks! In the meantime, enjoy my pregnancy fashion (or lack thereof) and a good story with your kids on Storytime with the Second Lady.” She later shared the receipt for the dress, and her husband applauded her frugality.
“She bought a $50 dress for $8.75. America: meet your next director of the federal budget!” the vice president wrote on social media.
JD Vance has said it was Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, telling them that she wished she’d had more than two children with her husband before he was assassinated last September in Utah that led him and the second lady to decide to grow their family. Usha Vance, a former attorney who once clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, concurred — in part.
“It was very powerful, what (Erika) said about her own family, and certainly very moving to both of us. I think I had already started to open my mind to the possibility,” Usha Vance said during a joint interview with her husband for “CBS Sunday Morning” that aired in June. “I wouldn’t say that this was, for me in any way, the decisive factor. But it came in the middle of a conversation that we were already having.”
Follow the AP’s coverage of Vice President JD Vance at https://apnews.com/hub/jd-vance.
FILE - Second lady Usha Vance, center, stands with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Vice President JD Vance as they prepare to greet members of the British delegation at an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, April 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Second lady Usha Vance arrives participates at an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, April 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Second lady Usha Vance arrives at a women's history month event in the East Room at the White House, March 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
Family and supporters of Nolan Xavier Wells gathered in a Mississippi church Monday to mourn and celebrate the 18-year-old, whose death following a July 4 boat trip with friends has captured national attention and prompted calls for an independent investigation.
The Rev. Al Sharpton was scheduled to officiate the funeral, with a call to justice delivered by the family’s lawyer, Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights attorney.
In the lead-up to the ceremony, relatives filed into the Ocean Springs, Mississippi, church for a visitation period, backdropped by gospel singers and a photo slideshow featuring Wells, often grinning and decked out in football gear.
Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, said they would use the occasion to celebrate the life of their son, who she described as a “bright light” and a “sensitive soul.”
“He would not want us to be sitting around crying and eating, and so what we’re gonna do is kind of have a party to celebrate him,” she said last week.
Wells’ death has captured national attention, galvanizing Black leaders and touching off fraught discussions of racial tension and mistrust of law enforcement in the Deep South.
The teenager, who was Black, had traveled by boat to Horn Island, a popular Fourth of July destination, with a group of friends from high school, all of whom were white. He did not return with his friends to the mainland that evening, officials said. His body was found two days later off the island’s coast.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter has said Wells’ friends are cooperating with the investigation, which remains ongoing. He said initial interviews suggested Wells chose to stay on the island and that his friends believed he would get a ride with someone else.
But the still-unknown circumstances leading to Wells’ disappearance have fueled rampant online speculation, along with questions from his parents about why he was left behind.
Crump has said another witness reported Wells planned to leave on the boat with his friends, contradicting the sheriff’s statement. He also alleged that messages appeared to have been deleted from the phone, which was found with Wells’ friends, along with his keys.
The attorney, who is leading his own investigation into the death, said he would work alongside the local prosecutor to inspect the device. The prosecutor agreed last week to present the results of the investigation to a grand jury once it is completed, Crump said.
“Our lived experiences tell us that we must question everything, everybody’s role, law enforcement’s role,” Crump said. “That is the lived experience as Black people in America.”
Wells, who would have turned 19 next month, played wide receiver on the football team at Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit, Mississippi, and had aspirations of playing at a high-level Division I program.
“He was very sociable with everyone, didn’t meet a stranger,” his coach, Les George, told WAPT-TV. “He would pop up at my office and come sit on the couch just to hang out and talk.”
His death has drawn support from high-profile members of the Black community. Actor and producer Tyler Perry is helping pay for Wells’ funeral. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is helping pay for his independent autopsy, and filmmaker Spike Lee attended a news conference last week in support of Wells’ family.
In a joint statement last week, members of the Congressional Black Caucus called for an independent and transparent investigation into Wells' death, adding that “too many questions remain unanswered.”
“We hope the outpouring of concern and support from people across the country in recent days brings them some comfort in the days ahead,” they said.
The Wonsley family, from left to right, Christine, her Husband Elmore, sons Elmore Jr. and Ethan attend a memorial service Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
From left to right, Christine Wonsley cries next to her Husband Elmore, and their sons Elmore Jr. and Ethan during a memorial service for her son Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Attendees hug during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Attendees hug during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A young girl is among the attendees during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Football teammates of Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, attend his memorial service Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People line up for a viewing during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old found dead after taking a July 4 boat trip with friends, Monday, July 20, 2026, in Ocean Springs, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A person holds a picture of Nolan Xavier Wells during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference with Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
