Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) says he has abandoned attempts to work with Vice President Kamala Harris in addressing the border crisis, and he’ll take any further efforts to the White House directly.

There have been reports for months about Harris staffers and political allies feeling frustrated and bogged down by dysfunction as the vice president struggles to establish her place in Joe Biden’s administration. The New York Times has a new report based on sources close to Harris who think she is being under-utilized by the administration, treated as an afterthought, or still adrift in terms of her role.

Harris’ press secretary, Sabrina Singh, defended the White House: “The vice president has diligently worked alongside the president coordinating with partners, allies and Democratic members of the House and Senate to advance the goals of this administration.”

The piece also explores the difficulties Harris has encountered in the issues she has been focusing on, including addressing the root causes of illegal immigration. Cuellar, who has been urging the Biden administration to secure the U.S. Southern border for months, spoke to the Times about how his attempts to work on this with Harris’ office all resulted in disappointment.

When Mr. Cuellar heard Ms. Harris was traveling to the border in June, he had his staff call her office to offer help and advice for her visit. He never received a call back.

“I say this very respectfully to her: I moved on,” Mr. Cuellar said. “She was tasked with that job, it doesn’t look like she’s very interested in this, so we are going to move on to other folks that work on this issue.”

In the future, Mr. Cuellar said he would go straight to the West Wing with his concerns on migration rather than the vice president’s office.

Of the White House, Mr. Cuellar said, “at least they talk to you.”

The post Texas Democrat Says He’s Giving Up Working With Kamala Harris on Border Crisis: ‘Doesn’t Look Like She’s Very Interested In This’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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