Written by William Hekman
The first major resignation of the Biden-Harris administration has happened. Thursday afternoon Ashley Etienne, the communications director to Vice President Kamala Harris resigned from her position. Her resignation will go into effect in December.
A statement from the VP’s teams said, “ Ashley is a valued member of the Vice President’s team, who has worked tirelessly to advance the goals of this administration. She is leaving the office in December to pursue other opportunities.” Etienne had previously served as an advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and was her communications director twice.
Etienne’s resignation comes on the heels of a really bad week for the Vice President. An article published in CNN of all places, highlighted the frustration and dysfunction going on in her office. Biden and Harris’s staff have not gotten along due to the VP’s perceived lack of involvement in some policies. George Stephanopoulos asked Harris if she feels, “misused or underused” by Biden. In typical Kamala fashion, she just laughed off the question. Harris has been criticized in the past for laughing when faced with off-script or uncomfortable questions, most notably one about a question if she would visit the border (she still hasn’t).
The recent CNN article caught the attention of the administration, and it clearly made them upset. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted about the article and defended the job that Harris has done. Despite the White House attempting to save face, Harris’ approval rating currently sits at 28%, lower than Biden. This has many speculating if she will be on the Biden 2024 ticket should Biden run for re-election. If Biden does not run again, some Dems fear that Harris will be at the top of the ticket and would be defeated.
It was a rather hectic week for the Biden administration, and they will have a lot of questions going forward with the 2022 midterms just a year away.
Photo Cred: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
