A top speechwriting aide to Kamala Harris is leaving the White House, returning attention to the vice president’s messaging challenges over the last year and new efforts to right the ship.
Kate Childs Graham, Harris’s director of speechwriting, will leave at the end of February, a White House official confirmed.
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“Kate is leaving the office, but not the family,” the official told the Washington Examiner, adding that Harris was grateful to Childs Graham for her service.
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The White House declined to say who would replace the vacancy.
“We are excited for her next step,” the official said.
The move comes amid a broader communication reset for Harris’s team, with four senior aides leaving late last year and the collapse of a portfolio effort on voting rights. In January, Harris’s new communications director was forced to apologize after old tweets about undocumented migrants prompted strong criticism from activists.
Harris’s scripted remarks have also sometimes drawn criticism. Earlier this year, the vice president compared the 2021 Capitol riot to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, eliciting immediate rebuke.
She also stoked speculation over her reelection prospects when telling reporters in December she and President Joe Biden had yet to discuss a second bid. Biden has said he intends to mount a reelection bid with Harris by his side.
Biden has praised Harris’s work on voting rights after tasking her with the role at her request last summer.
“I did put her in charge. I think she’s doing a good job,” Biden said last month.
Now, Harris is set to play a central role in the nomination process for Biden’s eventual Supreme Court pick, offering her a perch to usher in the first black justice.
A top Democrat made an early beeline for Harris in his lobbying campaign for a favored judge should the opportunity arise to nominate a candidate to a seat on the bench.
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Days into the Biden presidency, House Majority Whip James Clyburn was at the White House with a name in hand. Clyburn, a close Biden ally, made the case directly to Harris in her West Wing office.
Biden has brought on several outside advisers to help with the process, including Minyon Moore, a Harris confidant.
