Vice President Kamala Harris has churned through her office staff, raising questions about her management style and leadership abilities as she advances unchallenged toward the Democratic presidential nomination.
Researchers who analyzed payroll data found an “extraordinarily high” exodus rate from Ms. Harris’ vice presidential office. Those who have worked for her over the past decade report that she was a tyrannical boss who terrified her employees, cursed, discouraged direct eye contact and made employees stand at attention when she entered a room.
One Democratic official whose son worked as an intern for Ms. Harris during her years as California’s attorney general (2011-2017) wrote in late 2019, after she launched her failed presidential bid, “There is another side of Kamala Harris which the general public does not know.”
Ms. Harris, 59, is on track to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination in a virtual vote and without opposition.
Multiple reports, focusing on anecdotal complaints from former employees, have focused on low morale and high turnover in her vice presidential office.
In a new report by the watchdog group Open the Books, researchers quantified her human resources problem. They discovered a 92% staff turnover through payroll records.
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Half of her staff listed on public payroll records quit in the past year, the organization calculated.
“Taxpayers can draw their own conclusions about Harris’ management or leadership style, but what we found corroborates comments from former staffers that the vice president is difficult to work for,” said Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of OpenTheBooks.
High turnover in the White House isn’t new, but Ms. Harris’ numbers are higher than others.
In the same time span, President Trump experienced a 72% turnover and President Biden had a 77% turnover.
Vice President Mike Pence hired 29 employees during his first year in the Trump administration, and five remained on staff after three years, indicating an 83% turnover rate.
Ms. Harris hired 49 staffers and retained only four three years later.
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Past employees described a toxic and dysfunctional environment in the vice president’s office that seemed to worsen as Ms. Harris’ approval ratings sank.
Office management troubles go back even further in her career.
In a Nov. 5, 2019, article, Nevada County (California) Planning Commissioner Terry McAteer said Ms. Harris treated his son and other staffers poorly when he served as her intern while she was the state’s attorney general.
“Senator Harris vocally throws around ‘F-bombs’ and other profanity constantly in her berating of staff and others. The staff is in complete fear of her and she uses her profanity throughout the day,” Mr. McAteer wrote. “As Attorney General, Senator Harris instructed her entire staff to stand every morning as she entered the office and say, ‘Good Morning General.’”
He said Ms. Harris never once introduced herself to his son, who was instructed “to never address Harris or look her in the eye as that privilege was only allowed to senior staff members.”
Mr. McAteer’s son could not be reached for comment and did not respond to an inquiry through social media.
The exodus of the vice president’s top aides triggered multiple rounds of news reports questioning whether Ms. Harris could hold a qualified office team together.
Some former top staffers have remained silent about her sudden political leap and have not even posted about it on social media.
Former spokeswoman Symone Sanders-Townsend fully endorsed Ms. Harris for president but hinted at the difficulties of working for her.
She said on MSNBC last week that Ms. Harris is known for “the grilling,” which she said could be an advantage in a race against former President Donald Trump.
“Former staff like to refer to it as putting someone on the witness stand,” Ms. Sanders-Townsend said. “She knows how to do that quite well.”
Ms. Sanders-Townsend said she once told the vice president, who was often the subject of criticism over her performance, “Ma’am, you might be the last woman I work for because it’s a lot that we got to deal with over in here.”
She said outside criticism of Ms. Harris “did not deter her.”
Mr. Andrzejewski said Ms. Harris’ vice presidential office is concealing the full roster of employees and their salaries, breaking with past vice presidents and presidents who disclose staff and salaries, all of which are funded by taxpayers.
Although Open the Books obtained at least a partial list through congressional records, the Harris vice presidential office has claimed to be exempt and rejected public information requests to provide all the information.
Open the Books, in conjunction with another watchdog organization, is preparing to sue for the information.
“Kamala Harris is the least transparent elected official in the entire country. We don’t know anyone else that gets to shield their spending,” Mr. Andrzejewski said.
The Harris campaign did not respond to an inquiry for this report. The Washington Times also reached out to a half dozen former Harris staffers, who did not respond.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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