Only four of the US vice president’s 47 original employees haven’t left her team, the NGO OpenTheBooks says
According to transparency watchdog OpenTheBooks, US Vice President Kamala Harris has experienced a staggering 91.5% staff turnover rate. This information was reported on Monday, citing disclosures from the Senate. The revelation comes just days after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris as his replacement.
OpenTheBooks, a non-profit organization dedicated to monitoring government spending, has analyzed the list of titles and names of the staffers at the Office of the Vice President. This data was extracted from the semi-annual report of the Secretary of the Senate.
“As of March 31, 2024, only four of the initial 47 staffers from the first year are still employed – consistently and without interruption – by the vice president,” the group stated.
OpenTheBooks also reported that Biden’s staff turnover rate is 77%, with only 127 of his initial 560 White House employees remaining in their positions since 2021.
Harris’ difficulties retaining staff have been reported previously, with The Hill describing her team as a “revolving door.” The political news website reported in the summer of 2022 that over 13 “high-profile aides” had left the vice president’s office within a year.
Axios has attributed the high turnover rate at the vice president’s office to factors such as “burnout, better opportunities and concern about being permanently branded a ‘Harris person’”.
Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race on Sunday. This came after weeks of mounting concerns among Democrats and their supporters regarding his declining health and his ability to defeat former President Donal Trump in November.
While Biden and several prominent Democrats have publicly supported Harris as the party’s candidate for the presidency, the official nominee will be determined at a convention next month.
During her first campaign rally on Tuesday, Harris accused Trump of aiming to “take our country backward,” and spreading “chaos, fear and hate.”
Trump, in response, has accused Harris of failing to address the illegal immigration crisis at the US border with Mexico. He suggested that “she could be far less competent” than Biden, “which is hard to believe.”