Kamala Harris' office is rocked by claims staffers are 'treated like sh**'

The office of Vice President Kamala Harris has been rocked by claims that staffers are 'treated like sh**' and that chief of staff Tina Flournoy has created 'blame culture.'

Tensions started to boil over after Harris finally decided to visit the border last week, blindsiding staffers, according to a Politico report based on interviews with 22 current and former vice presidential aides, officials and associates.  

Sources described a tense atmosphere with low morale and trust, as well as bad communication, according to the outlet.

Flournoy has allegedly created an environment where 'ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out,' the outlet reported. She allegedly 'refuses to take responsibility' and blames staffers for negative results.

Some of the sources told Politico that Harris also is responsible for how her office is run, claiming that the toxic environment 'all starts at the top.'

'People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it's an abusive environment,' said one source. 

'It's not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It's not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like s**t.'

The sources claimed that even President Joe Biden's office is concerned about the treatment of staff.

Biden, on the day he was inaugurated, warned presidential appointees while swearing them in that he would fire them 'on the spot' if he were to hear that they have shown 'disrespect' others. 

'I'm not joking when I say this: If you're ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect or talk down to someone, I promise you, I will fire you on the spot — on the spot. No ifs ands or buts,' Biden said at the time.

Harris aides are reportedly already looking to leave the administration while some already have - like staffers Karly Satkowiak and Gabrielle DeFranceschi, who oversaw the vice president's travel.

Satkowiak and DeFranceschi left under what had been described as 'long-planned departures' but sources contested that characterization to Politico.

DeFranceschi, who previously worked in the Obama administration, reportedly left over a 'difference in opinion on how things should run.'

'If you have an opinion about how things should run and it's not listened to, that can be frustrating,' the source told Politico.

Harris' chief spokesperson Symone Sanders, pushed back against the claims and called those who made them 'cowards,' according to Politico.

'People are cowards to do this this way,' Sanders said. 

She added: 'We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day. What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I'm like 'welcome to the club.'

'We have created a culture where people, if there is anything anyone would like to raise, there are avenues for them to do so. Whoever has something they would like to raise, they should raise it directly.' 

Sanders also said that Harris 'is focused on the work' and 'not the chatter at the water cooler.'