The vice president isn’t focused on it. But a close group of aides is beginning the work of vetting a new administration, with names already
Jasmine Wright at NOTUS:
Vice President Kamala Harris’ transition team is quietly developing plans for who could staff her administration as she crisscrosses the country trying to win an election that’d actually let her put them to use. Harris herself is entirely focused on winning, according to two sources close to her and the transition team. But she’s been getting weekly updates from her team as they toil away out of view in a federally funded workspace, preparing for what could be if Harris wins in November. “They’re working in secret, and everybody is focused on winning the election, which has left little opportunity for a lot of personal discussion about personnel,” said a third source close to the vice president. Harris has assembled a purposely skeletal team. The team’s leaders are slowly hiring more people, multiple sources told NOTUS, as they prepare to potentially orchestrate the first transition from a sitting president to a sitting vice president since 1988. They’ve been looking for “researchers and lawyers” to be ready to begin their vetting efforts beyond their current limited capabilities should Harris win. And it’s all happening with a low profile and a smaller group of advisers than previous Democratic transitions.
One person close to the vice president said she has tried not to engage in discussions about senior staff for her possible White House. “She is purposefully, as she always does, holding her cards close on this,” they said. And the team is “being very cautious about getting too far ahead of the vice president and jinxing anything.” The shroud of secrecy “is a good sign,” said Max Stier, the founding president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, who consults with presidential transition teams. “Preelection transition operations are supposed to not make any news. Really, their job is to prepare for the possibility of their candidate winning, and that’s incredibly important, but it’s not supposed to be a distraction from job No. 1 for the campaign, which is ultimately to win.” The team is led by Yohannes Abraham, who was the executive director of the Biden-Harris transition team. Josh Hsu, one of Harris’ longest and most trusted aides and former counsel in her VP and Senate offices, plays a major role. Multiple people say he was personally installed by the vice president. Dana Remus, the former White House counsel, is a part of the crew. Harris’ former aide Rachel Palermo has also recently joined the shop. And Lorraine Voles, Harris’ chief of staff for her official office and a trusted confidant who has been in her office since the summer of 2021, is in consultation, three sources told NOTUS.
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The personnel questions happen both inside and outside the team. For example, Harris’ economic adviser, Brian Deese, has advocated for the vice president to keep the headline-grabbing Federal Trade Commissioner Lina Khan in her position, should the vice president win, according to two sources familiar with the campaign. A third source says that the pair has a close relationship. Karen Dunn, the lawyer who co-ran Harris’ debate prep, has long eyed the White House general counsel position, according to multiple sources, after having been in contention after Remus stepped down in 2022. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s aides have reached out to express her interest in a potential position, said a person familiar with the effort. (A spokesperson for the governor said she “is not interested in a job in the federal government.” Asked about this reporting at a press conference on Thursday, Hochul said it was “categorically false” that her aides were reaching out and blamed “bad actors” who want her not to run for re-election.) And Jeff Zients, Joe Biden’s chief of staff who helped run his transition in 2020, is being floated to lead the Treasury Department, said two sources.
Other names that float around the ether include Wally Adeyemo for Treasury and Michèle Flournoy for Defense. Sen. Chris Coons has privately advocated himself for secretary of state (A spokesman said Coons is solely focused on electing Harris). And two sources say Harris likes Don Graves and Michael Reagan and might seek to elevate their roles in her administration. Current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s allies have pushed him for a foreign policy-focused role. (Buttigieg aides did not respond to a request for comment.)
But floats in October won’t necessarily turn to reality in January, regardless of who wins. “I think people are just out there fishing for names and making assumptions. If you want to know the truth,” said a Democrat close to both the campaign and the transition. “I’ve heard my name, and I have no intention of going back into government.” The Harris team is also trying to avoid pitfalls from recent transitions. After Biden won in 2020, Asian American and Pacific Islander groups were publicly livid about the lack of Asian American representation in Biden’s incoming administration before he changed course. Those groups have already begun engaging with Harris’ team on potential candidates.
[...] The group supports both U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su. Both have voiced their wish to stay in their current jobs, though Su was never officially confirmed.
NOTUS’s Jasmine Wright is reporting on how Kamala Harris’s potential transition team is forming should she win as President.
