COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — When JD Vance was sworn in at the Capitol on Monday, the former senator made history as the first vice president from Ohio in nearly 100 years.
Vance took his oath of office alongside President Donald Trump around noon on Monday during an inauguration ceremony that has been moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda given forecasts of intense cold weather. The last president to be sworn in inside the rotunda was Ronald Reagan in 1985, when daytime temperatures dipped to 7 degrees with a windchill of -25. View live updates from Vance’s inauguration day below.
The 40-year-old is Ohio’s first vice president since Charles Dawes, vice president under Calvin Coolidge from 1925 to 1929, and also made history as the first vice presidential candidate from the Buckeye State since 1944. Vance made his mark as a venture capitalist known for authoring the 2016 memoir-turned-Netflix-movie “Hillbilly Elegy,” and was propelled to victory in a crowded Ohio Senate primary in 2022 after receiving Trump’s highly coveted endorsement.
He went on to become Ohio’s junior senator after beating Democratic challenger Tim Ryan to fill the vacancy left by former Republican Sen. Rob Portman. As a senator, the Middletown native touted himself as a defender of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, aiming to reverse the Biden administration’s “needless spending” and double down on securing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump announced Vance’s appointment as his running mate in July last year on the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, then went on to win the 2024 White House race by earning 312 electoral votes. Vance resigned from his Senate seat in early January, making way for Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to appoint Lt. Gov. Jon Husted on Friday as his replacement in Congress’ upper chamber.
Trump and his party depart the platform
Trump and his official party have left the dais in the Rotunda. Right before leaving, Trump stopped to greet South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, his Homeland Security Secretary pick, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump takes his oath of office
Chief Justice John Roberts has administered the oath of office to President Trump.
Vance sworn in with great-grandmother’s Bible
The vice president used a family bible given to him by his great-grandmother for the ceremony, according to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. His “Mamaw” Bonnie presented the bible to him in September 2003, when he left home for Parris Island, South Carolina, and became a Marine Corps recruit. The Bible is a King James version published by Thomas Nelson and Sons.
Vance takes his oath of office
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh has administered the oath of office to now Vice President Vance.
Biden pardons family members in last act
Minutes before his term is set to end, Biden announced that he was pardoning several members of his family, including his brother James Biden, sister-in-law Sara Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, brother-in-law John T. Owens and brother Francis Biden.
Biden is pardoning his siblings and siblings-in-law for “any nonviolent offenses against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through the date of this pardon.”
Trump arrives
The president-elect is escorted into the Capitol Rotunda alongside a slew of politicians.
Vance arrives
The vice president-elect is escorted into the Capitol Rotunda, and will take his oath of office before Trump.
While inaugural proceedings continue, White House staff is prepping the Oval Office
White House staff is currently in the process of turning over the Oval Office, a source inside the West Wing told NBC News. Among the adjustments being made in the office is the replacement of Biden’s circular rug with the rug Trump had used during his first term.
Former Presidents, Supreme Court arrive
Former Presidents Barrack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush arrive inside the Capitol Rotunda, followed by all nine justices of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office to Trump, while Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh will administer to Vance.
Trump’s children arrive
Trump’s children have arrived at the ceremony. Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump are all in attendance. Barron Trump was also seen walking in.
Harris greets Vance
Moments ago, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, greeted Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, at the White House.
Vance’s meeting with Chinese vice president
Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, who declined to attend by sent Vice President Han Zheng as his “special representative.” Han met on Sunday with Vance as well as Elon Musk, according to NBC News.
Foreign leaders to attend inauguration
For more than a century, according to State Department records dating to 1874, no foreign leader has attended a U.S. presidential inauguration, being represented instead by ambassadors and other high-level officials. That will change today as Trump’s swearing-in is witnessed by multiple presidents and prime ministers, according to NBC News.
They include Argentinian President Javier Milei, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
St. John’s Church, tea with President Biden
Trump and Vance are starting the day’s formal festivities by attending a service at St. John’s Church, on Lafayette Square in Washington. The president-elect and Melania Trump will then meet President Biden and first lady Jill Biden for tea at the White House before the Trumps and Bidens go together to the swearing-in ceremony.
An Ohio State graduate
Vance studied political science and philosophy before graduating from the Ohio State University in 2009, and was a scholar in residence in the university’s Department of Political Science in 2017.
The vice president-elect joked on social media after Ohio State defeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl that he might skip the inauguration to watch Ohio State play Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship, but later clarified during an interview that he was kidding.
Trump expected to sign more than 50 executive orders
Trump plans to sign more than 50 executive orders Monday, and possibly more than 100, on the first day of his second presidency, a person in his transition operation told NBC News.
The incoming president intends to sign several of the orders in front of a crowd at an event in Capital One Arena in Washington later in the afternoon.
Vance to be sworn in at 11:30 a.m., Trump at noon
President-elect Trump, 78, will be the oldest person ever inaugurated as president, eclipsing President Biden who was five months younger when he took the oath four years ago. Trump will be joined by James David Vance, 40, who will be sworn in as the 50th vice president and the third-youngest in history.