To that end, Vance partnered with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to crack down on executives of failed banks. He introduced a bill with Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin that aims to ensure taxpayer-funded inventions are manufactured in the U.S. He also backs a bipartisan effort to eliminate a policy that reduces Social Security for people who receive other benefits, such as a government pension.
After a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine − just weeks after Vance took the oath of office − he joined forces with fellow Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown on legislation to strengthen federal rail safety rules.
At the same time, Vance uses his platform in the Senate to ruffle feathers and capitalize on hot-button debates of the day. His legislation includes proposals to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; ban gender-affirming care for minors and strip federal funding from colleges that allow protest encampments.
But the defining issue of Vance's first term has been the war between Ukraine and Russia − and his staunch opposition to U.S. involvement. Building off his Senate campaign, when Vance said he doesn't “really care what happens to Ukraine,” the junior senator has opposed all U.S. funding to support the country's fight against Russia.
The conflict underscores Vance's isolationist view of foreign policy, which aligns him with Trump and puts him at odds with members of his own party who want to take a firm stance against Russia.
“It was the bipartisan foreign policy consensus − the experts − that got us into a 20-year war in Afghanistan, where American taxpayers, for two decades, funded things like how to turn Afghanistan into a flowering democracy or how to ensure that the Afghans had proper American thoughts about gender in the 21st century,” Vance said on the Senate floor earlier this year. “Well, maybe that was a waste of money and maybe the experts were wrong.”
What's in a resume?
When Vance speaks to voters on the campaign trail, many of those same issues are front and center.
He calls for an expansion of oil drilling in the U.S., a line that particularly resonates with voters in Pennsylvania. He blasts electric vehicle mandates. He says he doesn't want to see American troops on the ground “for anybody’s wars but ourselves.” Speaking about his mother's struggle with a substance use disorder, he calls for tighter security at the U.S.-Mexico border to crack down on the flow of illicit drugs.
If elected, Vance would be the youngest vice president since Richard Nixon assumed the office in 1953. Still, Triantafilou said there shouldn't be any doubts about his readiness − especially since he wouldn't be the first politician to enter the White House with limited experience. Trump never held elected office before 2017, and Barack Obama ran for president during his first term in the U.S. Senate.
Landsman, too, said people shouldn't underestimate Vance.
“He’s very, very smart, and so he will be very effective in helping Trump and the Heritage Foundation execute on the pieces of Project 2025 that they care most about,” Landsman said.
Vance said he hasn't thought much about what kind of vice president he'd be, should Republicans win the White House in November. But he knows one thing: He doesn't plan to sit on his hands or keep his head down.
“I think it'll be very active,” Vance said. “I know the president wants me to be involved in everything, and I certainly hope to be. The president is the leader of the party. If he wins, he's the leader of the country, and my job is to help make him as successful as I can.”
Meibers sees her nephew as someone who won't adhere to the status quo or shy away from tough problems. She said Vance was always drawn to service, whether it was volunteering at fish fries or his time in the Marine Corp. As younger man, he often discussed political issues Meibers thought he had no business worrying about.
Now, Meibers believes Vance has changed the conversation.
“His future’s bright,” she said, “and I think he’s been kind of preparing for this role for a long time.”
Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
