Kamala Harris’s difficulty in retaining staff due to allegations of toxic behavior and bullying is well-documented. According to Open the Books, Harris experienced a 92 percent staff turnover during her first three years. Only four out of the 71 staffers hired during her first year in office remain employed; the rest either quit or were fired.
A former staffer told the Washington Post, “It’s clear that you’re not working with somebody who is willing to do the prep and the work.” The staffer added, “With Kamala, you have to put up with a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence. So you’re constantly sort of propping up a bully, and it’s not really clear why.”
Open the Books detailed this turnover:
The “top-to-bottom dysfunction” highlighted by The Atlantic in October 2023 is evident in the reported payrolls that were captured. The magazine noted, “In her first year and a half as vice president, Harris saw the departure of her chief of staff, communications director, domestic-policy adviser, national security adviser, and other aides.”
But the departures didn’t stop there. The semi-annual Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which lists the names, titles, and salaries of staff in the Office of the Vice President (OVP), showed that by March 31, only four staff members from the original 47 listed in the 2021 report remained consistently employed among the office’s 50 current staff members.
Barbara O’Connor, a communications professor at California State University, told Business Insider that at least 20 interns who worked in Harris’ attorney general and Senate offices had come to her in tears, feeling undervalued.
Author Charlie Spiering chronicles these troubling behaviors in his biography of Harris, Amateur Hour, published in January.