It’s unclear why the renovations are taking so long, said one administration official, but it’s a situation that has left Harris increasingly and understandably bothered, according to several people who spoke to CNN about her situation.
“She is getting frustrated,” said another administration official, noting with each passing day the desire to move in to her designated house — a stately, turreted mansion two-and-a-half miles from the White House — grows more intense. The second couple continues to live in temporary housing at Blair House, the President’s official guest quarters, just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
The administration has provided no official explanation for the delay, and a spokesperson for Harris did not respond to CNN’s request for comment prior to publication.
CNN has looked at various government contracts, awarded for myriad issues at the vice president’s residence over the last few years, many of which detail intensive foundational work.
From recently wrapped projects on a retention pond to a replaced tank system for $164,000 from last September, repairs and upkeep appear constant. There’s also an ongoing $3.8 million contract for “plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors,” according to the contract on the United States government spending website.
The contracts, while substantial, aren’t overtly egregious in terms of cost and expectation, considering the home is 9,000-plus square feet and was built in 1893.
Tax records from 2018 indicate $119,000 in expenses were used to provide updates and improvements in and around the grounds of the residence, for example. However, the current contracts do not address specifically why the vice president is still not living there, which is leading to growing questions — and agitation — about the pace of the work.
Harris has recently been spotted at her future home, popping in for an hour-long visit three weeks ago, per CNN. Two administration staff with knowledge of the ongoing updates told CNN that Harris — who likes to cook — requested work be done on the kitchen. But Sabrina Singh, Harris’ deputy press secretary, said in a statement Sunday that “there is no work being done on the kitchen at the Naval Observatory residence.”
It is not unusual for there to be at least a couple of weeks between residents, so the Naval staff who operate the home can refresh, said Elizabeth Haenle, who served as vice president residence manager and social secretary for former Vice President Dick Cheney. “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,” Haenle said.
Shortly after inauguration, a Harris aide told CNN the vice president wouldn’t be immediately moving in, citing the need for some repairs to the home “that are more easily conducted with the home unoccupied.” A move-in date was still to be determined at the time. Another administration official told CNN some of the work included renovating the home’s chimneys — there are seven working fireplaces — as well as other updates.
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