Kamala Harris is formally on island time.
The vice chairman and husband Doug Emhoff have been vacationing in Hawaii for greater than every week — placing Harris hundreds of miles away from President Biden’s aspect for 2 of the most important set-piece occasions of his administration to this point.
Harris and Emhoff arrived in Hawaii on Aug. 15, in the future earlier than Biden signed the Inflation Discount Act into legislation. The invoice, a slimmed-down model of the president’s preliminary Construct Again Higher plan, spends $437 billion on environmental and healthcare packages — and is paid for, partly, by stepped-up tax assortment by a beefed-up IRS.
The president was flanked on the signing ceremony by key congressional Democrats, together with Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and average Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) — however not Harris, who was photographed the identical day at a farmers market.
On Wednesday, Biden introduced his administration would forgive billions of dollars in federal pupil mortgage debt, doubtlessly wiping the monetary slate clear for 20 million Individuals. Schooling Secretary Miguel Cardona was by the president’s aspect for his remarks, however Harris was nowhere to be seen.
The veep’s Hawaii journey adopted a quiet weekend on the couple’s house in Brentwood, Calif. Her final public occasion was Aug. 12 in her hometown of Oakland, the place she spoke about the way forward for the US house program.
Harris has had nothing on her official calendar since then.
The vice chairman’s workplace and a White Home spokesman didn't instantly reply to a question about when the vice chairman and second gentleman have been due again in DC.
The absence of America’s second-in-command seems to have largely gone unnoticed — except for a handful of photographs posted on social media that present the vice chairman visiting the seaside.
TMZ additionally printed a photograph on Monday of Harris in peak trip mode as she went climbing in Haena State Park on the island of Kauaʻi.
Prior to now, Harris has been dogged by rumors of a strained relationship with Biden — together with a report final 12 months that she was being sidelined amid rising tensions with the president.
It additionally emerged earlier this 12 months that Biden and Harris had solely met for lunch sparingly in 2022 — regardless of the president wanting it to be a weekly prevalence because it had been along with his former boss, President Barack Obama.
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