Vice President Kamala Harris’ angry exit from power in Washington, D.C. has been unprecedented, critics say — and is proof Harris is still resentful after her resounding 2024 election loss to President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.
The vice president was first blasted as “petty” after her office cropped Trump out of a photo from late President Jimmy Carter’s funeral earlier this month.
Now, Harris is under fire for reportedly snubbed Vance and his young family. Harris’ office has failed to extend a traditional invitation to tour the Naval Observatory residence where the vice president-elect will live during his term in office, despite outreach from Vance’s team.
Vance and his family will instead get their first look at their new home on January 20 when they first begin to move in.
The break from tradition happened after Usha Vance reached out to Harris’ office for information in November about childproofing the historic Queen Anne-style mansion for the couple’s three children, all under age eight.
A Harris political appointee rebuffed these requests, multiple Democratic and Republican sources told CBS News.
“Before Christmas, Navy officials provided an overview of the house to discuss the layout of the residence, logistics and practicalities of the move-in,” a person familiar with the discussions said. Usha Vance has only spoken with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff for about 40 minutes last week.
Harris’s team defended the snub, and said the vice president is too busy and focused on canceled overseas travel and California wildfires to help the Vance family transition.
Vice President Mike Pence had offered Harris an invitation to tour the mansion in 2020 according to tradition, but Harris declined the invite.
In 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden hosted the Pences for a visit after the election. The Naval Observatory has served as the vice presidential residence since the 1970s.
“We’re just very grateful for the hospitality today of the vice president and second lady,” Pence said at the time.
Navy aides who oversee the residence have since communicated with the Vance team, and last minute arrangements are reportedly being made to accommodate the children – Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel. Harris herself didn’t move into the residence until April 2021, three months after taking office, due to needed repairs.