Kamala Harris prepares for central role in Joe Biden's White House
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
Kamala Harris prepares for central role in Joe Biden's White House

Politics

Hindustan Times
18 January, 2021, 04:35 pm
Last modified: 18 January, 2021, 04:37 pm

Related News

  • Biden sends top-tier team to UAE with eye on frayed ties
  • With China in focus, Biden makes $150 million commitment to ASEAN leaders
  • Biden considering Korea DMZ visit when traveling to Asia this month
  • Musk says he prefers 'less divisive' candidate than Trump in 2024
  • Biden eyes new ways to bar China from scooping up US data

Kamala Harris prepares for central role in Joe Biden's White House

Kamala Harris will make history on Wednesday when she becomes the nation's first female vice president — and the first Black woman and the first woman of South Asian descent to hold that office

Hindustan Times
18 January, 2021, 04:35 pm
Last modified: 18 January, 2021, 04:37 pm
“My mother would say to me, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last”  Photo: Reuters/Carlo Allegri
“My mother would say to me, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last” Photo: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

With the confluence of crises confronting Joe Biden's administration — and an evenly divided Senate in which she would deliver the tie-breaking vote — Harris is shaping up to be a central player in addressing everything from the coronavirus pandemic to criminal justice reform.

Kamala Harris will make history on Wednesday when she becomes the nation's first female vice president — and the first Black woman and the first woman of South Asian descent to hold that office.

But that's only where her boundary-breaking role begins.

With the confluence of crises confronting Joe Biden's administration — and an evenly divided Senate in which she would deliver the tie-breaking vote — Harris is shaping up to be a central player in addressing everything from the coronavirus pandemic to criminal justice reform.

Symone Sanders, Harris' chief spokeswoman, said that while the vice president-elect's portfolio hasn't been fully defined yet, she has a hand in all aspects of Biden's agenda.

"There are pieces that Biden may specifically ask her to champion, but outside of that she is at the table for everything, involved in everything, and giving input and feedback and being a supportive partner to him on all pieces," she said.

People working closely with Harris on the transition resist the idea of siloing her into any specific issue early on, because the sheer number of challenges the Biden administration faces means it will be "all hands on deck" during their early months.

They say she'll be involved in all four of the major priorities they've set out: turning around the economy, tackling COVID-19, and addressing climate change and racial justice.

"She has a voice in all of those. She has an opinion in all those areas. And it will probably get to a point where she is concentrating on some of the areas more specifically," Sanders said.

"But right now, I think what were faced with in this country is so big, its all hands on deck."

Harris has been closely involved with all of Biden's biggest decisions since winning the election in November, joining him for every one of his key meetings focused on Cabinet picks, the Covid-19 relief bill, security issues and more.

The two talk over the phone nearly every day, and she travels to Delaware sometimes multiple times a week for transition events and meetings.

Those involved in the transition say both have taken seriously Bidens insistence that he wants Harris to be the "last voice in the room" on key decisions.

Biden is known to turn to Harris first during meetings to ask for her opinion or perspective on the matter at hand.

Biden and Harris knew each other prior to the 2020 presidential campaign in part through Harris friendship with Biden's deceased son, Beau. But they never worked closely together.

Since joining the ticket, and particularly since the election, Harris has made efforts to deepen their relationship and is in frequent contact with the president-elect, people close to Harris say.

That personal relationship, according to presidential historian Joel Goldstein, will be key to their success as working partners.

"The relationship of the vice president to the president is the most important relationship. Establishing mutual understanding and trust is really a key to a successful vice presidency," Goldstein said.

Goldstein pointed to Biden and President Barack Obama's relationship as a potential model for the incoming team.

Biden and Obama were from similarly different backgrounds and generations and also entered the White House with a relatively fresh working relationship.

But their relationship and mutual understanding grew throughout the presidency, and Obama trusted Biden with some of his administrations biggest endeavors, like the implementation of the 2009 Recovery Act and the troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Harris is said to be looking at Biden's vice presidency as a guide for her own.

But unlike Biden during his first term, Harris will face constant questions about her political future.

While Biden has skirted questions about whether he plans to run for reelection, at 78 hell be the oldest president in history, leaving questions about whether he'll retire at the end of his term.

That would make Harris the immediate frontrunner in any 2024 Democratic presidential primary.

Early in the vice presidential vetting process, her potential presidential ambitions gave some Biden allies pause. But since her selection, Harris has proven a loyal partner to Biden, rarely if ever contradicting him publicly.

Still, California Rep. Barbara Lee, who was the first Congressional Black Caucus member to endorse in the primary when she backed Harris, said the vice president-elect is not afraid to speak her mind.

"Shes no shrinking violet," Lee said. "If she believes that one decision should be made versus another she's going to weigh in and give her thoughts and opinions."

Biden has a personal affection for the work of diplomacy and deep relationships with global leaders that Harris can't match. But aides say she'll be deeply involved in the administration's diplomatic priorities simply because of the sheer amount of issues that will take up Biden's time.

She may also be given a particular aspect of the administration's coronavirus response to oversee.

One of her main priorities early on is certain to be the passage of the USD 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that Biden announced Thursday.

Those working with Harris on the transition say that while Biden will be intimately involved with ushering the package through the Senate because of his longstanding relationships with longer-serving lawmakers, Harris knows the newer members and can help build fresh relationships in Congress.

Top News / World+Biz

Kamala Harris / Joe Biden / US Election

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: PID
    Prioritise dev projects, spend wisely: PM Hasina 
  • Workers carry sacks of wheat for sifting at a grain mill on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    India to allow wheat shipments awaiting customs clearance
  • Govt fixes tolls for Padma Bridge
    Govt fixes tolls for Padma Bridge

MOST VIEWED

  • Newly-appointed French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne gestures as she attends a handover ceremony in the courtyard of Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
    Macron picks Elisabeth Borne as new prime minister
  • President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, right, hands over the appointment document to Gamini Lakshman Peiris after he took oath of office as the new foreign minister in Colombo. Photo: AP via Hindustan Times
    Sri Lanka to swear in more ministers today
  • Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov speaks during a news briefing on SSC-8/9M729 cruise missile system at Patriot Expocentre near Moscow, Russia January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
    Russia calls Finland, Sweden joining NATO a mistake
  • Paelvi Pulli, head of security policy at the Swiss Defence Ministry gestures during an interview with Reuters in Bern, Switzerland May 4, 2022. Picture taken May 4, 2022. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
    Neutral Switzerland leans closer to Nato in response to Russia
  • Melania Trump. Picture: Collected
    Melania Trump teases second term as first lady during interview
  • Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy poses for a picture with US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) before a meeting, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 14, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS
    Top Senate Republican meets Zelenskiy, Russia says US involvement dangerous

Related News

  • Biden sends top-tier team to UAE with eye on frayed ties
  • With China in focus, Biden makes $150 million commitment to ASEAN leaders
  • Biden considering Korea DMZ visit when traveling to Asia this month
  • Musk says he prefers 'less divisive' candidate than Trump in 2024
  • Biden eyes new ways to bar China from scooping up US data

Features

Despite Bangladesh having about 24,000 km of waterways, only a few hundred kilometres are covered by commercial launch services. Photo: Saad Abdullah

Utilising waterways: When common home-goers show the way

4h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How Putin revived Nato

6h | Panorama
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The United House: Living and working inside nature

6h | Habitat
Pcycle team members at a waste management orientation event. Photo: Courtesy

Pcycle: Turning waste from bins into beautiful crafts

7h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

7h | Videos
The mystery behind Pyramid

The mystery behind Pyramid

7h | Videos
Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

19h | Videos
Where you can swim for Tk5

Where you can swim for Tk5

21h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
Impact of falling taka against US dollar
Banking

Taka losing more value as global currency market volatility persists

4
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

5
Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 
Banking

Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 

6
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab