Harris isn’t ready to talk about who might serve in her potential administration

CNN
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Kamala Harris has a busy schedule these days: multi-state campaign stops; briefings from advisors on domestic and foreign issues; a steady stream of phone calls, meetings and interviews, all while hoping to defeat Donald Trump in next week’s election.

But amid the flurry of activity in the latter part of the 2024 campaign, there’s one discussion the vice president has made clear to aides he won’t entertain, even in private: who might serve in a future cabinet and administration Harris. Wary of the tempting fate, Harris made it clear to advisers in the final weeks of the campaign that she was not interested in having those conversations, four sources told CNN.

“She’s been pretty resistant to having those conversations,” said a senior Democrat familiar with campaign talks with the vice president. “Her position was really big: I’ve got to go win this thing.”

The vice president’s refusal to participate seriously in those planning discussions is, at least in part, rooted in superstition. Harris, who once joked that she was “a little superstitious,” has long believed that nothing good can come of putting the cart before the horse, those familiar with her thinking said.

“She’s superstitious,” a longtime associate of Harris told CNN. “She’s a rational, logical and linear thinker, which means she focuses immediately on what’s in front of her and resists the temptation to look too far ahead.”

This trait might be one of the few he shares with Trump. The former president also expressed concern about transition planning before winning the election, in part because he believes it could be bad luck for the bottom line.

But he took his resistance to formal transition planning a step further by refusing to take formal steps critical to preparing a transition, exceeding a pair of key terms and breaking with precedent in a way that outside experts warn could ultimately pose challenges to a peaceful transfer of power.

While Harris’ transition team operates out of government-provided offices in Washington, Trump’s transition team works out of Manhattan and the Willard Hotel in Washington. Representatives of both transition teams met with federal agency transition planners on the White House campus on Tuesday to discuss “post-election preparation,” a White House spokesman said.

Unlike previous campaigns, the Harris team has telegraphed virtually nothing about the names or profiles of officials who could fill top roles in a potential administration, even as some Washington Democrats and media outlets are eagerly fueling the speculation. When then-candidate Joe Biden was in the final weeks of his successful 2020 bid, names for several roles had already been floated.

Nor is Harris’ team yet to solicit lists of names to fill potential roles — although in the past those lists are often sent unsolicited to transition officials by groups or individuals hoping to put a stamp on future administration policy.

For a candidate who, throughout her abbreviated campaign, has had to navigate divisions between progressive and moderate Democrats, those decisions will inevitably be delicate ones. That’s, in part, why Harris and her team think it would be better left until after Election Day.

Waiting until she knows for sure that a role will be hers before taking on the duties that come with that job was how she operated much earlier in her career as well. Those familiar with her rise in California say she has maintained a similar ethos when running for attorney general and district attorney.

It was also how she behaved more recently before her rapid rise to the top of the Democratic ticket over the summer. Even as speculation swirled that Biden might drop out of the 2024 race, Harris — as CNN reported at the time — was meticulous about not doing anything preemptive until the moment he shared his decision.

The reluctance to engage in extensive pre-election discussions about the personnel of a potential administration has lent a degree of secrecy to Harris’ transition effort, particularly for those Democrats eager to learn about the open positions.

Sources tell CNN that the transition team has focused on building the infrastructure for vetting, including recruiting lawyers and putting in place lawsuits that are ready to be launched if Harris wins. And just as her campaign was truncated, so was her transition planning.

“There is no transition without a successful campaign and that is the top priority right now. The transition is focused on creating the necessary infrastructure to be ready for the post-election period,” a transition spokesperson told CNN.

But behind the scenes, transition staff are also preparing for various scenarios, including if the race remains too close to be called days after Election Day. In that case, both Harris and Trump’s teams could begin receiving information from the Biden administration following a measure passed in 2022 that sets out the protocols for the transition period.

A Harris victory would trigger the first same-party transition since 1989, when President Ronald Reagan handed the presidency to his vice president, George HW Bush. The relative rarity of a Democrat handing over the keys to the White House to another Democrat injects some uncertainty into the process, particularly how much continuity Harris would bring to hiring decisions in his own administration.

Departing political appointees are typically expected to submit letters of resignation as the presidency transfers to a new incumbent. But if Republicans flip the Senate, there has been talk of keeping some leftover Biden to limit protracted confirmation battles. And there was talk of how a GOP-controlled Senate could impact who the team brings up for a nomination.

“They’re trying to shore up confirmation processes with an eye toward that prospect,” one source said.

However, the extent to which Harris will retain members of the Biden administration is largely unknown. He would likely bring in his own roster of senior West Wing advisers, replacing those who have worked with Biden for years or decades. This includes her own selection for White House Chief of Staff.

Harris’ current chief of staff, Lorraine Voles, is not expected to transition to assume the role of White House chief of staff, multiple sources said.

And there is an expectation that much of the Cabinet will return, allowing Harris to name his own nominees to top posts. Even in two-term presidencies, senior Cabinet officials often leave their stressful jobs after one term.

Biden’s cabinet has seen almost no turnover in four years. However, it is unclear whether Harris would consider existing Biden officials who may be considering higher-profile roles, potentially as secretaries of state or treasury or attorney general.

While Harris has maintained relationships with individual cabinet and administration officials, some believe he will prefer to start over with his own team. Harris also said he would name a Republican to his cabinet, but declined to speculate who it might be or for what role.

If Harris isn’t interested in thinking about names for top positions in her possible future government until she knows she’s won the election, her transition team has been busy preparing for a possible Inauguration Day sprint.

The transition work is led by Yohannes Abraham, former ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Others, including Josh Hsu, the vice president’s former general counsel, and Dana Remus, the campaign’s senior adviser and outside counsel, were involved in the transition team’s work, a source familiar with the process said.

If an election is called for Harris, the transition team will jump into action, quickly forming agency review teams, appointing key White House staff and Cabinet members and presenting the vice president with a long list of decisions to make.