JD Vance tagged along as a plus-one to a private dinner hosted by Chief Justice John Roberts — a 100-guest event his wife Usha was invited to as a former Roberts clerk — showing up as a surprise guest that nobody had anticipated or prepared for.

Roberts appeared completely indifferent to the unexpected addition — neither Vance nor his wife received special seating accommodations and the Chief Justice omitted the Vice President entirely from remarks delivered during the evening. The timing could not have been more awkward — Trump has been publicly raging at the Supreme Court for weeks over its resistance to his executive actions and Roberts has made no secret of the tension between the two branches. The second most powerful man in America walked into that room uninvited and left without a single acknowledgment. Washington has a very particular way of saying everything without saying a word.