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Several longtime Kamala Harris associates shut out as VP’s chief of staff keeps tight control over access

  • June 29, 2021

Kamala Harris’ chief of staff has effectively shut out several of the vice president’s longtime political and business world allies as the Biden administration contends with several challenges, including battles over voting rights and the border, according to people familiar with the matter.

Harris has not been returning phone calls to people who have considered themselves members of her inner circle, including donors and people who supported her Senate and White House runs, according to some of the people with knowledge of the situation. 

Under chief of staff Tina Flournoy’s watch, Harris speaks regularly to President Joe Biden, her family members, a tight group of friends, and her strategists, these people said. The people declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Yet as Flournoy, who built a tough reputation while working for former President Bill Clinton, exerts her power as a gatekeeper to the vice president, several of Harris’ allies outside the federal government are struggling to get their calls returned after years of regularly being in touch with her, some of these people said.

A person familiar with Flournoy’s handling of incoming communication with these associates says she sometimes starts a conversation asking, “What is it that you want from the vice president?” If the person wants to just say hello and have a brief conversation, Flournoy says that time will come at future private events.

If a person wants to speak to Harris about where she stands on policy, Flournoy will, at times, say they can’t speak to the vice president about policy and will make an introduction to one of her policy advisors.

Some of these same advisors and donors are trying other routes, including by attempting to speak with Douglas Emhoff, the vice president’s husband. Many of those calls have yet to be returned, these people said.

Chiefs of staff, especially those in the highest echelons of government, are expected to run a tight ship for their bosses, including by limiting who gets in the door for meetings or who reaches them on the phone. In the vice president’s world, some allies can get in — but they guard their status so they don’t run afoul of Flournoy. 

For instance, an influential Democratic donor who raised money for Harris’ failed bid for president recently tried to reach out to the vice president and had yet to receive a call back. Then this person decided to contact Flournoy. 

That didn’t work. The donor reached out to a fellow Democratic financier for Flournoy’s contact information. But the fellow financier declined to share Flournoy’s email address for fear of losing access themselves.

Another Harris supporter said she hasn’t heard from the vice president since a call with supporters during the transition period.

While Flournoy has made it tougher to get in touch with Harris, some of the vice president’s supporters accept it as a consequence of Harris building out her portfolio. Harris recently made her first visit as vice president to the U.S.-Mexico border, she touted Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill and is expected to have a role working on criminal justice reform, among other items.

One person close to Harris said they appreciated what Flournoy is doing and has accepted that it’s simply going to be harder to get in touch with Harris now that she is vice president and begins working on big-ticket initiatives.

“There’s no question she [Flournoy] is a strong chief of staff and there’s no question that she is very focused on making sure that the VP is able to be focusing on the coronavirus pandemic and getting people vaccinated, the border, voting rights,” said another Harris ally who has spoken to Flournoy. 

“So by making sure that she is able to focus on what she’s being charged with, there could be people who are not necessarily getting access because the chief of staff is prioritizing those tasks for the VP over political outreach,” this person explained.

A spokeswoman for Harris did not respond to a request for comment.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/29/kamala-harris-chief-of-staff-limits-access-to-vice-president.html

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