Exodus Continues: Another High-Ranking Kamala Harris Staffer Reportedly Is Out
Another top-ranking staff member reportedly is leaving the office of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Kate Childs Graham, Harris’ chief speechwriter, will leave the vice president’s office at the end of this month, Fox News is reporting.
“Kate is leaving the office, but not the family. The vice president is grateful for her service to the administration,” Fox News said it was told by a White House official. “We are excited for her next step.”
Harris has been losing staffers since last summer, when, after her trip to Central America, Director of Advance Karly Satkowiak and Deputy Director of Advance Gabrielle DeFranceschi left, according to the Daily Mail.
Rajan Kaur, who was the director of digital strategies, left in July.
The trickle grew into a river after a spate of reports in the fall of tensions in the vice president’s office, snarly relations with the office of President Joe Biden, and a steep decline in support for Harris among the public.
Former Communications Director Ashley Etienne resigned in November.
Symone Sanders, the chief spokeswoman for Harris, left next.
In January, Vincent Evans, deputy director of public engagement and intergovernmental affairs for almost a year, left to become executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.
As Sanders left, one report noted that Harris herself is part of the problem.
“One of the things we’ve said in our little text groups among each other is what is the common denominator through all this, and it’s her,” Gil Duran, a former aide to Harris who worked for her in 2013, said, according to The Washington Post.
Duran penned some advice for Harris in a Dec. 2 Op-Ed in the San Francisco Examiner.
“First, swallow your pride and adapt to the job. You’re essentially a presidential staffer, not the star of the show. You signed up for this. The president needs support and stability, not tantrums and turmoil. With the Republican Party working full time to thwart him, Biden can’t afford Machiavellian treachery from his own team,” Duran wrote.
“Second, stop bleeding staff. It’s not like the old days, when we resigned in respectful silence. Today’s disgruntled aides run simulcasts in Politico and the New York Times. Get a grip on the management issues and stop the cycle of dysfunction, or it will permanently define (and disqualify) you.”
Duran also advised Harris to do the job she has instead of planning for the job she wants.
“Finally, don’t worry about becoming president. Worry about whether you can handle the job if it lands on you. You’re one heartbeat from the Oval Office at a dangerous moment. The future of American democracy is at stake.
“Fate may yet test your mettle. Whining over photo ops and squabbling with staff makes you look unprepared. If you can’t unite your own office, how will you unite a divided country?” he wrote.
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