Harris move into vice president’s residence delayed

Vice President Harris’s move into a home on the Naval Observatory’s grounds in northwest Washington, D.C., has been delayed because it is in need of repairs.

Her office told Politico on Wednesday evening that the traditional vice president’s residence at One Observatory Circle needs to have its chimney liners replaced and other household maintenance now that former Vice President Mike Pence and his family have moved out. The delay will “allow for repairs to the home that are more easily conducted with the home unoccupied.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Harris currently has a home in the nation’s capital from her time serving as a senator from California.

It is unclear if she will be living there while waiting for the work to be completed. The vice president’s office did not disclose where she will be staying, citing security reasons.

The residence on the Naval Observatory’s grounds was built in 1893 and was designated as the home for the vice president by Congress in 1974.

Former Vice President Walter Mondale was the first second-in-command to occupy the home, according to the White House.

Harris made history on Wednesday as the first woman as well as the first Black and first South Asian American to hold the office of vice president. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, has become the country’s first second gentleman.

She spoke briefly with her predecessor on the steps of the Capitol as he and his wife, former second lady Karen Pence, left the inauguration ceremony. 

Pence spoke to Harris by phone last week to offer assistance ahead of the inauguration, and he also left a handwritten note for her at the White House, according to a source familiar with the decision.