Vice President Harris’s chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, is leaving the Biden administration and will be replaced by Harris senior adviser Lorraine Voles, a White House official said Thursday.
Voles, a veteran communications aide who previously advised Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, has been a senior adviser to the vice president since last summer. Flournoy recruited her for her role as senior adviser, the official said.
Flournoy is the highest-ranking official to leave the vice president’s office, and news of her exit comes after a series of other departures from Harris’s staff.
Flournoy’s departure was first reported by The Washington Post, which said she was leaving the post for personal reasons.
“Tina has been a valued advisor and confidant to me and tremendous leader for the office,” Harris said in a statement on Thursday.
“From day 1, she led our team during a historic first year as we made progress rebuilding our economy here at home and our alliances around the world. Tina is the consummate public servant and I will continue to rely on her advice, counsel and friendship,” the vice president said.
President Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, praised Flournoy in a statement as a “critical member of the White House team since day one.”
While it’s not unusual for officials to leave after a year of service in government, Harris’s staff departures have attracted some attention.
A handful of communications staff for the vice president left the office last year, including Harris spokeswoman Symone Sanders, who took a job at MSNBC, and her communications director, Ashley Etienne.
Veteran Democratic communications aide Jamal Simmons was brought on as her communications director and Kirsten Allen, who most recently served as a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, moved to the White House to serve as Harris’s press secretary.