Current Vice President: JD Vance Serves as Second

Who is the Vice President of the United States now? JD Vance. As of December 2025, JD Vance serves as the 50th Vice President of the United States. He was elected alongside President Donald Trump in the 2024 election and took office on January 20, 2025.

For the citizenship test, you must know who currently serves as vice president when you take your test. Vice presidents change when new administrations take office, so verify the current officeholder before your citizenship interview.

The Essential Facts

For the citizenship test, you need to know the name of the current vice president. As of December 2025, the answer is JD Vance or Vance.

JD Vance was elected vice president on the Republican ticket with Donald Trump in November 2024. They were inaugurated together on January 20, 2025. The president and vice president always run as a team and serve together.

The Vice President of the United States has limited constitutional duties but significant practical importance. The vice president’s main formal roles are presiding over the Senate and casting tie-breaking votes. The vice president also succeeds the president if the president dies, resigns, becomes disabled, or is removed from office. Modern vice presidents also take on additional responsibilities assigned by the president.

What the Vice President Does

The Constitution gives the vice president only two explicit duties:

President of the Senate: The vice president presides over Senate sessions and keeps order. In practice, senators often take turns presiding, and the vice president only presides during important votes or ceremonies. The vice president cannot debate or vote regularly in the Senate.

Tie-Breaking Vote: If the Senate splits 50-50 on a vote, the vice president casts the deciding vote. This power can be significant when the Senate is evenly divided between parties. Without a tie, the vice president does not vote.

Beyond these constitutional duties, modern vice presidents have expanded roles:

Presidential Advisor: Vice presidents advise the president on policy, politics, and decisions. The closeness of this relationship varies, but most modern presidents rely significantly on their vice presidents.

Diplomatic Representative: Vice presidents often travel abroad representing the United States, meeting foreign leaders, and conducting diplomacy. This frees the president for other duties while maintaining high-level diplomatic contact.

Political Surrogate: Vice presidents campaign for the president’s agenda and party candidates. They give speeches, attend events, and promote administration policies publicly.

Special Assignments: Presidents often assign vice presidents to lead specific initiatives or task forces. These assignments vary by administration based on the vice president’s expertise and the president’s priorities.

Presidential Succession: The vice president must be ready to assume the presidency immediately if needed. This readiness requires staying informed about all major issues and decisions.

How Someone Becomes Vice President

To become vice president, a person must meet the same constitutional requirements as president: be at least 35 years old, be a natural-born U.S. citizen, and have lived in the United States for at least 14 years. The Twelfth Amendment also prohibits the president and vice president from being residents of the same state.

Vice presidential candidates are chosen by presidential candidates after they secure their party’s nomination. The presidential nominee selects a running mate, usually announced before or during the party’s national convention. This selection is strategic, often balancing the ticket geographically, demographically, or ideologically.

Voters do not separately elect the president and vice president. When you vote for president, you vote for both the presidential and vice presidential candidates together. They run as a ticket. You cannot vote for one party’s presidential candidate and another party’s vice presidential candidate.

The Electoral College elects both president and vice president. Electors cast separate ballots for each office, but in practice they vote for the ticket they are pledged to support. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win either office. If no vice presidential candidate receives 270 votes, the Senate chooses the vice president from the top two candidates.

Historical Context

The vice presidency was not originally a powerful or prominent office. John Adams, the first vice president, called it “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” Early vice presidents had little to do beyond presiding over the Senate and waiting in case the president died.

The role’s importance changed gradually. Modern communications, expanded government, and complex global challenges increased vice presidential responsibilities. Vice presidents became closer presidential advisors and more visible public figures. The office transformed from insignificant to genuinely important.

Nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency due to the president’s death or resignation. John Tyler was first in 1841 when President William Henry Harrison died. Most recently, Gerald Ford became president in 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned. These successions demonstrate why the vice presidency matters. The person serving as vice president must be ready to be president immediately.

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, ratified in 1967, clarified presidential succession and disability procedures. It established formal processes for the vice president to assume presidential duties temporarily if the president becomes disabled. It also created procedures for filling vice presidential vacancies. Before this amendment, unclear rules created confusion during crises.

The Vice President’s Limited Power

Despite increased prominence, vice presidents have limited independent power. They cannot issue executive orders, cannot independently command military forces, and cannot make binding government decisions. All their authority comes from the president or the Constitution’s narrow grants of power.

Vice presidents serve at the president’s pleasure. The president chooses them, assigns their duties, includes them in meetings and decisions, or excludes them. A vice president who disagrees with the president publicly faces being sidelined and given no significant responsibilities. This subordinate position can frustrate ambitious vice presidents who want to shape policy.

The vice president’s tie-breaking Senate vote is the only independent constitutional power. Even this power only matters when the Senate is evenly divided, which happens infrequently. Most of the time, the vice president has no Senate vote and limited influence on legislation.

This powerlessness is intentional. The founders did not want two presidents. They wanted one clear chief executive accountable to voters. The vice president’s job is supporting the president, not competing with or undermining presidential authority. A vice president who seeks independent power threatens constitutional structure.

Connections That Matter

Understanding the vice president’s role connects to presidential succession. If something happens to the president, the vice president immediately becomes president with all presidential powers. This continuity ensures the executive branch always has a leader. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment provides clear procedures for this succession.

The vice presidency relates to checks and balances within the executive branch. While the vice president cannot check the president directly, having a second executive officer provides backup and prevents single-person failure. If the president becomes unable to serve, government continues without interruption.

The vice president also connects to the Senate’s operations. As president of the Senate, the vice president provides an executive branch presence in the legislature. This position allows the vice president to observe legislative deliberations and cast deciding votes, linking executive and legislative branches.

For more on executive branch organization, see our article on the president in the uscis-questions category. To understand presidential succession, explore our explanation of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. To learn about Senate procedures, read about the legislative branch.

Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if the vice president dies or resigns?
The president nominates a new vice president who must be confirmed by both houses of Congress. This follows the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Gerald Ford became vice president this way after Spiro Agnew resigned, then became president when Nixon resigned.

Can the vice president be fired?
Not directly. The president cannot remove the vice president from office. The vice president can only be removed through impeachment by Congress or by resigning voluntarily. This protects vice presidents from presidential retaliation.

Has a vice president ever refused to become president?
No. Every vice president who was next in line when the presidency became vacant has assumed the office. The Constitution requires succession. A vice president cannot refuse without resigning first.

Do president and vice president have to get along?
Not legally, but practically yes. Presidents choose running mates carefully, seeking people they can work with. If the relationship sours, the president can exclude the vice president from meetings and decisions, making the vice president irrelevant.

Can a former president be vice president?
This is debated. Someone who served two terms as president cannot be elected president again. Could they serve as vice president and potentially succeed to presidency? The Constitution is unclear. Most scholars think this is not allowed, but it has never been tested.

Does the vice president live in the White House?
No. The vice president lives in an official residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. This house has been the official vice presidential residence since 1977. Before that, vice presidents lived in their own homes.

How much does the vice president get paid?
$284,600 per year as of 2025, plus expense allowances. This is less than the president’s $400,000 but more than cabinet officials or members of Congress.

Can the vice president run for president?
Yes. Many vice presidents run for president after their vice presidential term ends. Some win, like George H.W. Bush. Others lose, like Al Gore and Hubert Humphrey. Being vice president provides name recognition and experience that help in presidential campaigns.

What if both president and vice president die?
The Speaker of the House becomes president, followed by the Senate President Pro Tempore, then cabinet members in order of when their departments were created. This succession order ensures continuous executive leadership.

What should I memorize for the citizenship test?
Know who is currently vice president when you take your test. As of December 2025, the answer is JD Vance or Vance. If you take the test later, verify the current vice president. The test asks about now, not past vice presidents.