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WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Kamala Harris spent her first two weeks in office working with the President on coronavirus relief, consulting with the head of the World Health Organization and speaking with the first Minister of Canada.
It’s his interview with a local news station in West Virginia, however, that gets the most attention – and not in a good way.
West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate whose support is critical to the success of President Joe Biden’s agenda in Congress, did not appreciate the vice president’s efforts to pressure him into his Home State urging passage of a $ 1.9 trillion Virus Relief Package, especially when it had no warning.
“I couldn’t believe it. Nobody called me, ”Manchin said later on the same TV station. “We’re going to try to find a bipartisan path, I think we have to. But we have to work together. It is not a way of working together.
Manchin’s criticism was raised in the White House briefing room and was even talked about on the daytime talk show “The View” on ABC and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS.
The shutter was an early signal of some of the issues Harris faces as she settles down and seeks to define her position in the White House.
“Harris is having a hard time figuring out what his role is, what his specialty is in this White House,” said longtime Democratic strategist Joel Payne.
Harris also got some details wrong in his interview in West Virginia, referring to “abandoned landmines” instead of “abandoned mining lands” in coal-mining countries.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Harris and his remarks in West Virginia twice during Monday’s briefing and offered little information on how the interview was conducted , saying only that “our goal is to communicate with the American people” about the Coronavirus Aid Bill.
And on Tuesday, Manchin himself sought to overcome the controversy, telling reporters it was just a “mistake” and that there was “no apology needed.”
In addition to his TV appearance in West Virginia, Harris also interviewed the editorial board of the state’s largest newspaper, as well as a local newspaper and TV station in Arizona, lobbying Democratic senators. from that state – two moderates whom Biden will support must also pass his COVID-19 package.
While Harris’ general role remains undefined, she and Biden have often said during the transition that she will be the “last voice in the room” on big decisions, just as Biden was for President Barack Obama. Indeed, Harris would view Biden’s vice-presidency as a model for his own.
Harris spokeswoman Symone Sanders noted that Harris worked “closely” with Biden and “attended almost all briefings, meetings and events” with him.
Harris has contacted members of both parties on Capitol Hill and called on mayors and governors to come forward with the COVID-19 package. She also met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the director general of the World Health Organization, and hosted a roundtable with small business owners to discuss coronavirus help.
Twelve years ago, Biden and Obama took office, representing very different generations and different approaches to politics and politics. They eventually became good friends and Obama entrusted Biden with the implementation of the Recovery Act of 2009 to revive the economy and the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
Harris’ chief of staff during her tenure as California Attorney General Nathan Barankin predicted that her ability to connect with others would make her a compelling surrogate for Biden if she was able to engage with the public.
“It’s a constant, in every briefing or interaction you have with Kamala Harris on policy decisions. And that is, how does this affect real people? ” he said.
Payne, who is black, said that while Harris’ historic position as the first black and South Asian woman to serve as vice president opens up new opportunities for her, it can present complications as well.
“There are challenges seen and unseen for the first black woman in this position to argue with. She will have to constantly ask herself the question: would a former vice-president be criticized in this way? ” he said.
Even though Harris’ aides say she will be a central player in the administration’s efforts to sell her COVID-19 package to the public and to Capitol Hill, where she served as a senator for the first term until At the start of the month, Biden himself has more and closer relationships with many senators are critical to the passage of the bill. And he is perhaps a more popular figure in some of those senator states than Harris, who was seen as more progressive than Biden during the primary.
In an equally divided Senate, if Democrats decide to continue passing their COVID-19 bill through a budget maneuver that would only need majority support to pass, Manchin is key to the chances of success. democrats.
Indeed, the White House reached out to Manchin after learning he was unhappy. And before the interview, Biden had made his own communication with Manchin by phone, as the two have remained friendly since their time in the Senate.
Even after the interview, Harris’ aides said she was calling on lawmakers to defend the bill and hear their concerns. She is expected to continue pushing for the legislation in public talks and other events.
They also say she will be particularly engaged in raising awareness among the black community about both the bill and the COVID-19 vaccine, with the aim of overcoming skepticism around vaccinations among communities of color.
While Manchin’s vote will be needed to achieve a tie on the relief package, Harris, as Senate speaker, would deliver the deciding vote in the event of a 50-to-50 split on the bill or others. major legislative texts. In the future. The responsibility is certain to keep Harris near the Capitol when major bills approach the vote.
For now, the White House has said it is avoiding travel anyway, as recommended by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and instead is looking for “creative” ways to sell the aid package, such as town halls and interviews.
Historian Joel Goldstein has noted that the opportunity to vote to break the tie is an important opportunity, one that could define Harris’ vice-presidency well beyond the end of his first term or any early blunders he has made. ‘she might do on TV.
“Insofar as it has to break the equality of voices, it will be able to claim credit for having taken important measures for democratic constituencies,” he said.
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