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 The relationship between former — and potentially future — presidential rivals Vice President KAMALA HARRIS and Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG was under a magnifying glass today as they traveled for the first time together as members of the Biden administration, to a bus and light rail garage in Charlotte, N.C. And while, in the service of promoting the president’s recently passed infrastructure bill, they projected a kumbaya calm — with a hug hello — it was hard to escape the political undertones. Harris is facing another round of negative headlines, as high-profile members of her office announce their departure. Their jobs, by all accounts, have been challenging during the first year of the administration. But on Thursday, at least, Harris appeared to be having some fun. At the bus facility, she hopped into the driver’s seat of an electric bus, pretended to drive it, and then honked the horn. “‘The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round,’ she said, letting out a big laugh,” POLITICO's CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO wrote in a pool report. “She kept peppering another operator with questions as Buttigieg looked on silently,” Cadelago added. The trip was intended to promote the $550 billion infrastructure spending bill JOE BIDEN signed last month and tout the improvements it will make in North Carolina. And it follows Harris’s trip to Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 19 with Secretary of Labor MARTY WALSH. But it was also quite obviously a way to pair Harris with Buttigieg. The Transportation secretary is one of the White House’s go-to communicators and has enjoyed ample positive press coverage, including praise for his appearances on conservative networks to plug the Biden agenda. He’s also only modestly played down the chatter that he’d run for president if Biden doesn’t — an implicit slight to Harris, the president’s second-in-command — by saying he’s focused on the here and now. A Buttigieg spokesman told us the two have been talking about doing an event together “for awhile.” He also said the two are expected to do more events together in the future and that staffers for both Harris and Buttigieg are frequently in touch. Former Democratic National Committee Chair DONNA BRAZILE also brushed off the narrative of a political rivalry between the two. “This is beltway banter. Trust me,” Brazile told us in a text. “It’s not a topic of any conversation outside the White House press corp and a few donors who are trying to woo woo woo new friends.” As for their relationship, a White House official told us the two have always had “an amicable friendship that just deepened [over time].” “During the general [election], Mayor Pete played then VP [Mike] Pence [in debate prep with Harris]. So I think that shows that there was an immediate closeness there, and I think their relationship has remained very close,” the official said. “I think there is an actual deep friendship there and one that is nicely complemented by their significant others,” second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF and Buttigieg’s husband, CHASTEN . While Pete and Kamala traveled to North Carolina together, Chasten and Doug also went out for bagels at Call Your Mother Deli in D.C.. "Interviewed a new babysitter today!," Chasten wrote in an Instagram story. Having to be debate-prep sparring partners may not be the most common foundation for a close friendship. And it certainly hasn’t lessened the chatter that the two of them are on a collision course. Buttigieg, for his part, denied any sort of feud with Harris on “Meet the Press” on Nov. 21. “She and I are part of a team that is disciplined and doesn't focus on what's obsessing the commentators,” Buttigieg said. “We're too busy with a job to do.” Underneath the politics, there are elements that bind Harris and Buttigieg. Emhoff and Chasten Buttigieg are indeed real friends, according to multiple people we spoke to. A former Harris aide said the two men “get on particularly well.” Harris and Emhoff also called the Buttigieg family to congratulate them when they welcomed their twins, Gus and Penelope, in August. A former aide recounted a private exchange between the two couples while campaigning in Manchester, N.H. during the primary where Harris even offered Chasten Buttigieg some marital advice, as Emhoff and Pete Buttigieg listened and grinned. Harris urged them to always try to find joy in the tough moments and a sense of humor about the times they can't, the aide said. Nevertheless, “rivalry” and “rivalry rumors” have been included in most headlines about the Charlotte trip. And it’s something the White House has to get ahead of in order to get their agenda passed, longtime Democratic strategist PAUL BEGALA told us. “Democratic divisions on Capitol Hill are damaging the Dems’ brand and making it difficult to pass their agenda. The Biden White House cannot afford for those divisions to come into the administration,” Begala said in an email. “VP Harris and Sec. Buttigieg helped Biden get elected, and he rewarded them with great jobs. They also both have promising futures. So it is very smart to publicly yoke them together in service of their shared agenda.” Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you CAROLINE SABA, staff assistant? 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. | 
