Vice President Harris’s chief of staff is leaving

Vice President Kamala Harris replaces his outgoing chief of staff, Tina Flurnoy, with a senior adviser who has been working with the vice president since last summer.

Driving the news: Flournoy has been with the team from the start and is the highest-ranking official in the vice president’s office, leaving amid a wave of other significant departures in recent months. A White House spokesman said Axios Flournoy was leaving for “personal reasons”.

• Lorraine Walls, Harris’s senior adviser, will begin as her chief of staff next month.

Background: Several members of Harris’s communications team have already left, including Simon Sanders (senior adviser) late last year, amid what critics saw as a poorly run office and communications store.

• In recent months, Harris’ national security adviser, deputy chief of staff and speechwriter have left for various reasons.

Background: Flournoy has worked in democratic politics for decades, having previously served as former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff.

• Walls was the communications director of former Vice President Al Gore and as an adviser to Hillary Clinton in 2008.
• Flurnoy, Wolves and Vice President Harris have been coordinating the transition for several weeks, the White House official added.

The Washington Post first announced Flurnoy’s departure.

What they say: In a statement, Vice President Harris said he would continue to rely on Flournoy’s “advice, advice and friendship”.

• “Tina was a valuable advisor and confidant to me and a great leader for the office. “From day one, she led our team for a historic first year, as we made progress in rebuilding our economy here at home and our alliances around the world,” he said.
• White House Chief of Staff Ron Klein praised Flurnoy as a “critical member of the White House team from day one” who helped the administration “meet critical priorities.”

What to watch: The midterm elections are only seven months away, and if President Biden decides not to run for re-election, he will pay more attention to how Harris’s office works and who he surrounds himself with.