The Biden administration is crying foul over multiple reports documenting tensions inside Vice President Kamala Harris’ office, Axios reports.
Politico reported earlier this week that Harris’ office has been rife with “dysfunction” and “low morale.”
Harris’ team has had trouble communicating on plans and is experiencing “diminished trust among aides and senior officials,” according to the report.
Much of the frustration is targeted at Harris’ chief of staff Tina Flournoy, who aides said has “created an insular environment where ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out” and refuses to “take responsibility for delicate issues and blames staffers for the negative results that ensue.”
Some aides blamed Harris herself.
“It all starts at the top,” one staffer said.
“People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment,” said another. “It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like shit.”
More leaks:
Axios later reported that there are also tensions between Harris’ office and the West Wing.
Several administration officials described Harris’ office as a “shitshow” compared to Biden’s leakproof office.
Some Biden officials view Harris’ office as “poorly-managed and staffed with people who don’t have long-term relationships with her.” Some officials think she’s gotten bad advice from her aides and has already lost two key staffers.
Biden admin cries “sabotage”:
"The President's trust and confidence in her is obvious when you see them in the Oval Office together,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain told Axios.
Biden senior adviser Cedric Richmond called it a “whisper campaign designed to sabotage her."
Harris aides disputed the reports.
"People are not fighting every day," said Harris senior adviser Symone Sanders. "There's not consternation among aides. That is not true. ... I hear that there are critics. Those who talk often do not know and those who know usually are not the ones talking."
