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Life is difficult if you’re a staffer for Vice President Kamala Harris, as another aide in her office is calling it quits amid new ‘rumors’ of a hostile work environment.
According to CNBC, Vincent Evans, Harris’ deputy director of public engagement and intergovernmental affairs, is leaving to accept another position on Capitol Hill.
Evans, the outlet continued, is leaving to join the Congressional Black Caucus, which is currently chaired by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat (because the caucus doesn’t want any black Republicans in its ranks, as Rep. Byron Donalds has discovered).
“I am deeply honored to be named the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus,” Evans said in the statement. “I started my career in Washington working for a member of the CBC, so I know firsthand the tremendous leadership and impact this caucus has in Congress and across the country.”
CNBC may also be providing some political cover for the VEEP:
Evans was a political director for Harris during the transition, and held the same post while she was a nominee for vice president during the later stages of the run-up to the 2020 election, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A person familiar with Evans’ departure says he is leaving on great terms with the vice president, and that he plans to maintain his close relationship with her. The move, this person added, has nothing to do with the other recent departures. Harris, according to this person, supports Evans’ decision. The person declined to be named in order to speak freely about the job change.
Whatever the case may be, Evans is just the latest Harris staffer to bail from her office amid continued claims that it is a tense, awful place to work, thanks mostly to her demeanor. Last month, in fact, one report cited a staffer who referred to her as a “bully” and someone who metes out “soul-destroying criticism.”
The reports of an abusive working environment began trickling out in July, beginning with Politico:
The handling of the border visit was the latest chaotic moment for a staff that’s quickly become mired in them. Harris’ team is experiencing low morale, porous lines of communication and diminished trust among aides and senior officials. Much of the frustration internally is directed at Tina Flournoy, Harris’ chief of staff, a veteran of Democratic politics who began working for her earlier this year.
In interviews, 22 current and former vice presidential aides, administration officials and associates of Harris and Biden described a tense and at times dour office atmosphere. Aides and allies said Flournoy, in an apparent effort to protect Harris, has instead created an insular environment where ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out. Often, they said, she refuses to take responsibility for delicate issues and blames staffers for the negative results that ensue.
While much of the ire is aimed at Harris’ chief, two administration officials said the VP herself also bears responsibility for the way her office is run. “It all starts at the top,” said one of the administration officials, who like others requested anonymity to be able to speak candidly about a sensitive matter.
“People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment,” a person that Politico claims knows how her office works, said. “It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like s**t.”
At the time, Harris’ spokeswoman, Symone Sanders, defended the vice president and said the claims are unfounded.
“Black women like me would not have the opportunity to work in politics without Tina.” She said before speaking of those who have complained anonymously, “People are cowards to do this this way.”
“We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day. What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I’m like ‘welcome to the club,’” she said. “We have created a culture where people, if there is anything anyone would like to raise, there are avenues for them to do so. Whoever has something they would like to raise, they should raise it directly.”
But then Sanders announced earlier this fall that she, too, is leaving — along with communications director Ashley Etienne and the director of press operations Peter Velz.
