AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File
- Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff have not yet moved into their official Washington DC residence.
- According to CNN, Harris is “getting frustrated” at the pace of renovations at the home.
- According to two administration staffers, Harris asked for work to be completed in the kitchen.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
After Vice President Kamala Harris took her oath of office in January, she became the first female, first Black, and first Asian American vice president in US history.
While President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were quickly able to settle in at the White House on Inauguration Day, Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, would have to stay in temporary housing at the historic Blair House while the vice president’s residence was undergoing renovations.
Harris and Emhoff are still residing at Blair House, the official residence of White House guests located across from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, according to CNN.
An administration official told CNN that it is “unclear” why the renovations are taking longer than expected, but Harris is reportedly becoming uneasy with the situation, according to several individuals who spoke to the network.
“She is getting frustrated,” another official said of Harris’s current situation of seemingly living out of suitcases more than two months after Inauguration Day.
The official also said that Harris’s desire to move into the residence has become more pronounced as each day goes by.
Number One Observatory Circle, where Harris and Emhoff will eventually live, is a stately Queen Anne-style mansion that dates to 1893 and is located on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory in Northwest Washington.
The Biden administration has not indicated the reasoning for any delays, and Harris did not respond to the CNN report regarding the matter.
According to CNN, the 128-year-old residence has required foundational work over the past few years, along with a myriad of other repairs and updates, including a $3.8 million contract for “plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors” that’s still in progress, according to an official US government spending report.
The CNN report indicated that the existing contracts don’t indicate why Harris and Emhoff have been unable to move into the residence.
The network reported that Harris has been seen at the residence, most recently for an hour-long visit several weeks ago.
According to two administration staffers, Harris, who enjoys cooking, asked for the kitchen to be updated.
White House/Lawrence Jackson
Elizabeth Haenle, the vice president residence manager and social secretary for former Vice President Dick Cheney, said that it wasn’t uncommon for there to be a few weeks in between residents living at the home.
“From time to time, the Navy will ask the vice president and their respective families to delay moving in so that they have time for maintenance and upgrades that are not easy to perform once the vice president takes up residence,” she told CNN.
After the inauguration, an aide to Harris told the network that the vice president and second gentleman would not move into the Naval Observatory residence that day, saying that repairs needed to conducted “that are more easily conducted with the home unoccupied.”
An administration official told CNN that the residence’s chimneys were being renovated, along with other unspecified updates.
There was no official move-in date announced in January.
While Blair House doesn’t hurt in the luxury department, with its ornate accommodations and a private hair salon, Harris and Emhoff prefer a more relaxed, California-esque vibe.
The residence at the Naval Observatory is much different than the White House, with fewer residence staff and a location further from the city center.
“The White House is office and home to the President so there is that feeling of living above the ‘shop’ at the White House,” Haenle told CNN. “For the vice president and his or her family, the Vice President’s Residence is calm in the midst of a stormy Washington, both politically and logistically. At the end of the day, the vice president can travel a short distance northwest and find respite in a country-like setting.”
Biden, who lived in the home as vice president from 2009 to 2017, praised its amenities on CNN last month.
“You’re … overlooking the rest of the city,” he said of the property. “You can walk out, and there’s a swimming pool. You can ride a bicycle around and never leave the property, and work out.”
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