Vice President Kamala Harris’s chief of staff is leaving the White House, adding to an already-lengthy list of staffers who have left the vice president’s office.
Tina Flournoy, the vice president’s current chief of staff, will be the highest-ranking official from Harris’s office to depart so far, the Washington Post reported. Harris’ former senior adviser Symone Sanders, deputy chief of staff Michael Fuchs and national security adviser Nancy McEldowney are among other high-level aides who have left their posts in recent months.
“Tina has been a valued advisor and confidant to me and tremendous leader for the office,” Harris said in a statement according to The Post. “From day 1, she led our team during a historic first year as we made progress rebuilding our economy here at home and our alliances around the world. Tina is the consummate public servant and I will continue to rely on her advice, counsel and friendship.”
FILE PHOTO: Tina Flournoy, chief of staff to the Vice President, and Mazin Alfaqi, special adviser to the Vice President for the Northern Triangle, walk from a chinook to board Air Force Two to return to Washington, in Palmerola, Honduras, January 27, 2022. Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Communications expert and veteran Democratic operative Lorraine Voles is slated to take over from Flournoy sometime this spring, a White House official told the Post. Voles previously worked under former Vice President Al Gore as a communications director and was one of then-White House hopeful Hillary Clinton’s advisors in 2008.
The upcoming departure brings renewed focus on reports of dysfunction within the vice president’s office. Harris has also faced scrutiny for a series of missteps made throughout her time in office, coupled with low approval ratings. (RELATED: ‘We’ve Been To The Border,’ Harris Says, Then Immediately Admits She Hasn’t Been To The Border)
Harris has also come under fire over her competency in executing the various tasks – most notably addressing the “root causes” of migration amid a border crisis – she’s been tapped with as vice president.
Still, in recent months, Harris has been tasked with even more high-profile jobs, including a trip to Poland in March that coincided with a dust-up within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The White House reportedly sought to temper expectations for that trip, noting she would not be there to broker deals.