The exodus of staffers from Vice President Kamala Harris’ office continues, with the head of her speechwriting team jumping ship at the end of this month.
A White House official told Fox News that Kate Childs Graham “is leaving the office, but not the family,” and added that Harris was “grateful for her service to the administration.“
“We are excited for her next step,” the official said, without elaborating.
Graham is the eighth high-ranking member of the VP’s staff to depart since this past summer amid complaints of low morale and a chaotic environment.
Harris Director of Advance Karly Satkowiak and her deputy, Gabrielle DeFranceschi, kicked off the wave of departures in June after Harris made a widely-panned visit to El Paso amid the ongoing surge of illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border.
At the time, a bombshell Politico report indicated that the decision to send Harris to the border had blindsided key staffers, including those responsible for travel arrangements.
One source familiar with DeFranceschi’s departure told the outlet that it came down to a “difference in opinion on how things should run,” suggesting that dissenting opinions were being ignored.
“People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment. 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 s—,” another source told Politico, which cited 22 current and former Harris aides in its report.
A third official, Director of Digital Strategies Rajan Kaur, left the Harris office effective in July, reportedly because she did not wish to move to Washington DC from her home in Brooklyn.
After a few months of quiet, word came in November that communications director Ashley Etienne would step down to pursue “other opportunities.” Soon after, Harris adviser and chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders departed without announcing a new job. (She was later hired by MSNBC to be a weekend host.)
Last month, Director of Press Operations Peter Velz revealed he would be leaving his post to work on the Protocol team at the State Department.
“Today is my last day at the White House, and it truly has been an honor. I will be forever grateful to Vice President Harris, the incredible Team @VP, and I’m so proud of our work this past year supporting this historic Administration,” he wrote in a Twitter thread announcing his new job.
On the same day, Deputy Director of Public Engagement Vince Evans also revealed on social media he would be leaving the veep’s office to serve as the Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Issues among Harris staff are not limited to her time as vice president.
During Harris’ presidential campaign – which ended with her dropping out shortly before the Iowa caucus – the New York Times published a resignation letter from Kelly Mehlenbacher, her state operations director, who claimed: “This is my third presidential campaign and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly.”
Mehlenacher pointed to the Harris campaign’s decision to lay off dozens of aides at its Baltimore headquarters as the “final straw in this very difficult decision.”
“It is unacceptable that we would lay off anyone that we hired only weeks earlier,” she wrote. “It is unacceptable that with less than 90 days until Iowa we still do not have a real plan to win.”
While last summer’s Politico report about mistreatment of staff appeared to echo Mehlenacher’s concerns, Harris’ office attempted to deflect the allegations.
“We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day,” Sanders said at the time.
“What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I’m like ‘welcome to the club,’” she added. “We have created a culture where people, if there is anything anyone would like to raise, there are avenues for them to do so. Whoever has something they would like to raise, they should raise it directly.”
In December of last year, another jaw-dropping report, this one in the Washington Post, described Harris as a “bully” boss with a “soul-destroying” management style.
One former staffer claimed Harris failed to read briefing materials, then lashed out at others when she was unprepared.
“It’s clear that you’re not working with somebody who is willing to do the prep and the work,” the staffer said. “With Kamala you have to put up with a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence. So you’re constantly sort of propping up a bully, and it’s not really clear why.”
Amid the chaos within her own office late last year, Harris also reportedly faced turmoil in her working relationship with President Biden.
In November, reports emerged that Harris felt increasingly sidelined by the administration while the rapport with Biden had become an “exhausted stalemate.”
Harris quickly attempted to dispel the report, denying to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that she felt, as the anchor put it, “misused or underused.”
The vice president’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed last year that the departures from Harris’ office were “natural” and “a very positive thing.”
“Working in the first year of a White House is exciting and rewarding but it’s also grueling and exhausting,” she said during a press briefing.
“If you look at past precedent, it’s natural for staffers who have thrown their heart and soul into a job to be ready to move on to a new challenge after a few years and that is applicable to many of these individuals,” she said.
Dozens of staffers remain in Harris’ office, but an exact count is hard to pin down since not all employees are listed under the White House’s public budget. Some salaries are paid by Harris’ Senate office or “borrowed” from federal agencies.
