Five months into Vice President JD Vance’s tenure inside the White House, Fox News Digital spoke to several of his colleagues about his specific role and accomplishments, including some that his peers say have been overlooked by most media outlets.
Several in Vance’s political circle used words like ‘Swiss army knife’ and ‘utility player’ to describe a vice president, who they say flexibly steps into a variety of roles, including being a key voice on Capitol Hill guiding the president’s Cabinet nominees successfully through the Senate.
‘He was very much involved in that, he made phone calls, he listened to people, he provided advice and thoughts and would talk things out with people,’ GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn said, adding that Vance does not get enough credit for the ‘level of engagement’ with his former colleagues in the Senate.
Ohio GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno told Fox News Digital that Vance has been an ‘enforcer’ in the Senate, not just when it came to confirming President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in a heated political climate, but also playing a significant role helping the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ make its way through Congress.
If he [Trump] needs help with nominees, he is going to come over and do that, if he needs help with a Big Beautiful Bill, because obviously President Trump has got a lot on his plate, he’ll come over to talk to his colleagues,’ Moreno said. ‘If he has to lobby one on one, he’s built good relationships.’
Moreno, who ran against Vance for Senate in 2022 before dropping out and endorsing him and then running successfully in 2024 with Vance’s endorsement, went on to say that he has not heard ‘one negative comment’ from Republicans in the Senate about Vance’s performance.
In fact, one senator said to me today that their impression after the lunch yesterday was that he really started to look really presidential and how impressive he is,’ Moreno said.
A senior White House official praised Vance’s ‘direct impact’ in the Senate when it comes to legislative efforts and Cabinet confirmations, adding that Trump’s domestic agenda is where his ‘impact has been felt the most.’
JD Vance throughout the whole transition, was always going to bat for Hegseth and for different nominees,’ the official said. ‘So he played a very active role making sure all the various Cabinet officials got confirmed.’
Vance’s influence has been felt on the foreign policy front, as well as the vice president making high-profile trips to India, the Vatican and Germany outlining the president’s ‘America First’ agenda.
In India, Vance was involved with and touted progress made toward a U.S.-India trade deal, saying a partnership between the Trump administration and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would ensure a 21st century that’s ‘prosperous and peaceful.’
Vance delivered a speech in Germany in February when he directly called out the organizers of the Munich conference, who he said had ‘banned lawmakers representing populist parties on both the left and the right from participating in these conversations.’
The speech sparked a social media firestorm, drawing criticism from some and praise from others, including Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, who described Vance’s remarks as a ‘Churchillian’ moment for free speech.
As the war between Russia and Ukraine raged on, Vance took an active role in the dialogue between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was front and center in the viral White House blowup between the two leaders, calling out the Ukrainian leader for ‘lack of respect.’
Vance, who has been labeled as an ‘attack dog’ for Trump dating back to the campaign trail last year, gave several interviews outlining his belief that, at the time, Zelenskyy was impeding the peace process.
Former Trump senior advisor Jason Miller told Fox News Digital that Vance has been influential when it comes to helping promote the president’s foreign policy agenda.’
That influence was on full display in recent weeks as the United States bombed several nuclear sites in Iran, causing a stir with conservatives on social media on the merits of getting involved in a foreign conflict after Trump and Vance campaigned against drawn-out foreign wars of the past.
‘Going into the conflict with Iran, I think was pretty notable for a couple of things. One, just the fact that the way he was elevated and was at the president’s side for the entire time, really how he had a seat at the table as part of the decision-making and the driving force for what happened,’ Miller said.
‘But then also, the fact that the vice president played such an important role of talking to people from across the MAGA coalition, people who are very much into America First and may have initially been skeptical with regard to Iran and being kind of the one of the main people in the admin who can kind of talk with both camps,’ he continued. ‘And as we saw with his Twitter posts both before the action and then even afterwards being able to really articulate, lay out the rationale for what President Trump is doing and make sure that the people across the coalition have a clear understanding of it.’
Vance was front and center following the strike on Iran, sitting down for an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on ‘Special Report’ outlining the reasoning for the strike as news broke that a ceasefire had been negotiated with the countries involved.
The White House official told Fox News Digital that when the president ‘calls a play,’ Vance ‘makes sure it’s run’ even if the two may have a different perspective, which is a sentiment that Miller echoed, saying that Trump promotes a ‘team environment’ to get perspective from all sides, even though he is ultimately the one who makes the final decision.
I think that the president and the vice president are very much in lockstep when it comes to the ultimate goals that they’re trying to accomplish,’ Miller said.
In terms of the media’s portrayal of the relationship between Trump and Vance, Moreno told Fox News Digital that ‘any story that says there’s daylight between what Trump believes and what JD believes can be rejected out of hand, because it’s not actually how it works.’
‘JD doesn’t view himself as the person who’s there to enact his agenda. He’s there to enact President Trump’s agenda.’
When it comes to Vance’s accomplishments on foreign and domestic policy in the first five months of the administration, both Miller and Moreno expressed the belief that the vice president has gotten more done in half a year than former Vice President Kamala Harris accomplished in four years.
You’re talking about literally polar opposites between her and JD,’ Moreno said. ‘Even a mentally diminished Biden understood what a great liability Kamala Harris was, he basically froze her and put her in the basement. President Trump realizes, because he’s a very smart guy, because he’s the one that made the decision to pick JD Vance realizes that JD is very effective for him and isn’t looking to overshadow or take the spotlight, but rather move his agenda forward.’
Miller agreed, saying that ‘Vice President Vance is easily the best vice president and most notable Vice President we’ve had in the last 30 plus years and is light years of improvement over Kamala Harris.’
While speculation has run rampant about what the Republican Party will look like after Trump completes his second term and whether Vance is the heir apparent in a crowded Republican field, Miller told Fox News Digital that Vance is not focused on that but has been ‘crushing it’ on the campaign trail raising money for the party.
He’s a huge draw out on the midterm fundraising trail and he’s someone who many people view as the future of the movement,’ Miller said.
Ultimately, Moreno told Fox News Digital that he does not think Vance gets enough credit for being one of the most ‘grounded’ politicians he has encountered who genuinely cares for his friends and family and always keeps his humble beginnings in Middletown, Ohio, at the forefront of the decisions he makes.
‘America First, and I said it when I nominated him in Wisconsin, it’s not a political slogan, it’s his North Star,’ Moreno said. ‘It’s why he is doing what he’s doing. I don’t think people realize that. I think people don’t know enough about him as a man.’