Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Tina Vice president KAMALA HARRIS is going through another rough patch. Her defenders say it’s evidence the White House needs to rethink her role in the administration. But that doesn’t look likely in the near term, some in Biden World say. A CNN story on Sunday reported that Harris is “struggling with a rocky relationship with some parts of the White House” and that there’s “entrenched dysfunction and lack of focus” in her office. A chyron on the story on CNN simply read, “West Wing aides worn out by dysfunction in VP Kamala Harris’ office.” Harris also endured some unflattering coverage of her third foreign trip — to Paris — which was expected to give her a chance to pivot from partisan domestic politics and enjoy some of the pomp and circumstance that comes with traveling abroad. But her absence from Washington at a time when the administration was pushing through its biggest policy achievement to date became part of that story, and a story in its own right. A column by L.A. Times columnist MARK Z. BARABAK this weekend called her “the incredible disappearing vice president.” The coverage is causing some frustration inside the VP’s office, where some Harris aides feel like they’re being scapegoated or caught in the middle of a larger battle between the West Wing and the VP’s office. And outside allies who know her well say the only solution for the White House is to defend her and give her something positive to work on — not a collection of complex issues that are intractable or fraught politically. Harris aides responded to the CNN story by EDWARD ISAAC-DOVERE and JASMINE WRIGHT with anecdotes of the VP’s behind the scenes presence and “quiet Hill presence.” Immediately after the story published, the VP’s deputy press secretary SABRINA SINGH tweeted, “Honored to work for @VP every day. She’s focused on the #BuildBackBetter agenda and delivering results for American People.” Shortly after, Harris’ assistant press secretary RACHEL PALERMO tweeted, “Proud to be on team @VP every single day.” We reached out to Harris’ office to talk about how they’re handling the onslaught of bad stories, and they didn’t respond. But reporters we talked to said they were told to follow the staff tweets when they asked for a response to the negative stories. The supportive tweets also came from sources outside Harris’s office, like JESS O’CONNELL, a former senior adviser to PETE BUTTIGIEG’s presidential run, who tweeted today, “When the VP steps off Air Force Two around the world people see a leader on the world stage who is a woman of color holding the 2nd highest seat in the U.S. It’s huge. Stop trying to make it or her small.” As for the White House strategy on the Harris stories, a Democratic strategist with close ties to the White House told us the CNN story was negative enough that they felt they had to respond. White House press secretary JEN PSAKI tweeted in support. Psaki also called Harris a “bold leader” and “key partner” in response to questions at Monday’s briefing. “I think the story carried enough wind that they had to respond,” the strategist said. “But I think them responding was, ‘We nip this in the bud. We’re done,’” the strategist said. “And I have a feeling that probably once every three or four months there’s going to be a story like this.” ELAINE KAMARCK, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former policy adviser to former Vice President AL GORE, said Harris is dealing with challenges from the inside and outside. Her friends and supporters on the outside are wondering why she isn’t playing a more public role, despite the expectation that vice presidents be less visible than the presidents they serve. As for the inside, Kamarck said, “Obviously somebody on the inside has knives out for her.” “She has been given an important job. She has access, from everything we can tell, to the president. She was, contrary to popular belief, making phone calls to Congress and to the Senate on the big infrastructure bill to get it passed,” Kamarck said. “I don't quite understand what's going on here. And it's kind of petty. Sexism and racism seem a little bit too simple of an answer.” Former Democratic National Committee Chair DONNA BRAZILE said Harris is clearly being covered by the press as not only the first female vice president, but also as if she’s the next president. But Brazile argued the press should focus, instead, on the work she is currently doing. In the meantime, “Vice President Harris will just have to keep working harder,” Brazile said. “And the staff must clearly feel under-appreciated in this atmosphere.” Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you LORRAINE VOLES, adviser to Vice President Harris? We want to hear from you — and we’ll keep you anonymous: westwingtips@politico.com. Or if you want to stay really anonymous send us a tip through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram, or Whatsapp here. Or you can text/Signal Alex at 8183240098. | 
