It appears incoming U.S. vice-president JD Vance and his family are getting snubbed and will not get a tour of their new home in Washington ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president next Monday.
According to CBS News, Democratic and Republican sources said vice president Kamala Harris didn’t extend an invitation to Vance for a formal chat or tour of the Naval Observatory residence, home to vice presidents since the 1970s located a few kilometres from the White House.
People on behalf of Vance’s wife Usha asked Harris’s team in November about the white Queen Anne-style mansion and what would be needed to childproof the residence, the report said.
Vance and his wife share three children under eight years old.
According to the report, a Harris political appointee refused to answer the family’s questions.
However, Navy aides who oversee the residence have been in touch with the Vances and provided an overview of the home, including its layout and the logistics of moving in, one source said. They family has yet to set foot inside.
Vance’s wife spoke with First Gentleman Doug Emhoff for 40 minutes last week, sources said, and efforts are underway to accommodate the children, according to Harris sources.
CNN reports a Vance adviser said Harris and the incoming VP have not spoken with each other since election day.
Spokespeople for Vance and Harris didn’t comment about the transition details.
But Harris sources told CBS News that the vice president wasn’t given an invitation by outgoing VP Mike Pence in January 2021 before Trump left office.
Pence advisers reportedly denied that happened, saying he quietly offered a tour of the residence to Harris and Emhoff due to Trump’s resistance to accommodate President Joe Biden and his administration.
Sources said no formal sit-down between Harris and Pence occurred.
The apparent snub of Vance’s family is in retaliation for Trump breaking with tradition, people close to Harris said, as well as her focus on the wildfires burning in Los Angeles.