Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly declined to invite Vice President-elect J.D. Vance to the vice president’s residence before Inauguration Day.
Multiple Democratic and Republican sources told CBS News that Harris declined to invite Vance or his family for a sit-down or tour of the Naval Observatory residence. Vance’s wife, Usha, reportedly reached out to Harris and first gentleman Doug Emhoff via intermediaries to ask about childproofing the house for her young children but was rebuffed by a Harris aide. The primary communication since has been between Vance’s team and the Navy aides who oversee the residence.
Usha Vance did speak with Emhoff for roughly 40 minutes last week, sources told the outlet.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the vice president-elect’s team for comment.
People close to Harris reportedly defended the move not to invite the Vances as justified, as Harris hadn’t been invited to the residence herself. However, Vice President Mike Pence’s aides disputed the lack of an invitation.
Nevertheless, neither a sit-down nor tour ever happened in the chaotic final days of the first Trump administration amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Jan. 6 riot.
People close to Harris also said she has been busy with other matters, such as the Los Angeles wildfires.
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The courtesy invitation to the Naval Observatory residence had been a long-standing tradition before 2020, with Pence having been invited by then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2016.
The relationship between Trump and Biden has been notably warmer, with the president-elect visiting him in the White House shortly after his November victory.
