‘No truth’ to staff mistreatment claims in Harris’ office
STAFFERS in the office of US vice-president Kamala Harris are mistreated and her chief of staff has created a blame culture, a media report last week said.
According to a report in Politico, a tense atmosphere with low morale and trust, as well as bad communication, prevail in Harris’s office.
Tensions started to boil over after she decided to visit the US-Mexico border last month, blindsiding staffers, the report said.
Some sources accused her chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, of creating an environment where “ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out”.
The report was based on interviews with 22 current and former vice-presidential aides, officials and associates. It added that US president Joe Biden’s office was also concerned about the treatment of staff.
However, Harris’ chief spokesperson Symone Sanders, dismissed the claims and called those who made them “cowards”.
On the day he was inaugurated, Biden warned presidential appointees while swearing them in that he would fire them “on the spot” if he heard that they have shown “disrespect” to others.
The Politico report added that Harris’s aides are reportedly looking to leave the administration, while some – such as Karly Satkowiak and
Gabrielle DeFranceschi – who oversaw the vicepresident’s travel, have already moved on.
DeFranceschi, who worked in former president Barack Obama’s administration, reportedly left over a “difference in opinion on how things should run”.
Sanders was quoted as saying Harris was focused on the work and not watercooler chatter.
“We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day. What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I’m like ‘welcome to the club’,” she said.
“We have created a culture where if there is anything anyone would like to raise, there are avenues for them to do so. Whoever has something to raise, they should raise it directly.”