Jovanni Ortiz is expected to join the office of US Vice President Kamala Harris as a top communications adviser, according to The Hill report.  Meanwhile, the vice president’s office has denied that Ortiz will be appointed to a top communications position, claiming that the reports are false.  

Reports of Ortiz’s appointment come after the White House confirmed on Thursday that Harris’ chief spokesperson, Symone Sanders, would be leaving by the end of the year. “She’ll always be a part of this Biden-Harris family, and it’s only natural after a couple of years to be ready for something new,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said, confirming the reports of Sanders’ departure.

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“Working in the first year of a White House is exciting and rewarding, but it’s also gruelling and exhausting,” Psaki added. “It’s all of those things at once.”

Sanders’ departure from Kamala Harris’ office comes amid growing concerns about the vice president’s communication strategy, as well as reports that she is being sidelined within the administration. Due to strained relations with members of US President Joe Biden’s team, the first female vice president of the United States is struggling to find her place in the White House, according to news agency AFP. 

According to multiple media reports, Harris’ communications director Ashley Etienne will also be leaving. 

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The early exits come at a time when Harris is juggling two difficult missions: minority voting access and the southern border migration crisis. Biden asked Harris to become a champion of voting rights after taking over the White House in January, despite the fact that passage of any such legislation in Congress remains a long shot. She has been handed over the job of resolving the southern border migration crisis, one of the major issues that several of Biden’s predecessors have repeatedly failed to address.