Vice President Kamala Harris has churned through her office staff, raising questions about her management style and leadership abilities as she advances unchallenged toward the Democratic presidential nomination.

Ms. Harris, 59, has seen an “extraordinarily high” exodus from her vice presidential office, according to researchers who analyzed payroll data. Those who have worked for her over the past decade also report Ms. Harris was a tyrannical boss who terrified her employees, threw out F-bombs, discouraged direct eye contact, and made employees stand at attention when she entered a room.

One Democratic official whose son worked as an intern for Ms. Harris during her years as California’s attorney general (2011-2017) wrote in late 2019, after she launched her failed presidential bid, “There is another side of Kamala Harris which the general public does not know.”

Ms. Harris, who is on track to clinch the Democratic nomination in a virtual vote and without opposition, has been the subject of multiple reports about low morale and high turnover in her vice presidential office, focusing on anecdotal complaints of former employees.

In a new report by the watchdog group Open the Books, researchers quantified her human resources problem, discovering through payroll records that Ms. Harris experienced a 92% staff turnover since becoming vice president.

She held onto hardly any of her staff, except for four employees, since assuming the office in January 2021.

In the past year, the organization calculated, half of her staff listed on public payroll records quit.

“Taxpayers can draw their own conclusions about Harris’ management or leadership style, but what we found corroborates comments from former staffers that the vice president is difficult to work for,” Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of OpenTheBooks, said.  

High turnover in the White House isn’t new, but Ms. Harris’s numbers are higher than others. 

By comparison, President Trump experienced a 72% turnover and President Biden saw a 77% turnover in the same time span.

Vice President Pence hired 29 employees during his first year in the Trump administration and five remained on staff after three years, indicating a turnover rate of 83%.

Ms. Harris, by comparison, hired 49 staffers, and just four remained on the job three years later.

Past employees described a toxic and dysfunctional environment in the vice president’s office that seemed to worsen as Ms. Harris’s approval ratings sank. 

Office management troubles go back even further in her career.

In a Nov. 5, 2019 article, Nevada County (California) Planning Commissioner Terry McAteer said Ms. Harris treated his son and other staffers poorly when he served as her intern while she was the state’s attorney general. 

“Senator Harris vocally throws around ‘F-bombs’ and other profanity constantly in her berating of staff and others. The staff is in complete fear of her and she uses her profanity throughout the day,” Mr. McAteer wrote. “As Attorney General, Senator Harris instructed her entire staff to stand every morning as she entered the office and say, ‘Good Morning General.’”

He said Ms. Harris never once introduced herself to his son, who was instructed “to never address Harris or look her in the eye as that privilege was only allowed to senior staff members.” 

Mr. McAteer’s son could not be reached for comment and did not respond to an inquiry through social media. 

As vice president, the exodus of her top aides triggered multiple rounds of news reports questioning whether Ms. Harris can hold a qualified office team together. 

Some of her former top staffers have remained silent about her sudden leap to presumptive presidential nominee, not even posting about it on social media. 

One of those who quit, ex-spokeswoman Symone Sanders-Townsend, fully endorsed Ms. Harris for president but hinted at the difficulties of working for her.

She said on MSNBC last week that Ms. Harris is known for “the grilling” which she said could be an advantage in a race against former President Trump.

“Former staff like to refer to it as putting someone on the witness stand,” Ms. Sanders-Townsend said. “She knows how to do that quite well.”

Ms. Sanders-Townsend said she once told the vice president, who was often the subject of criticism over her performance, “Ma’am, you might be the last woman I work for because it’s a lot that we got to deal with over in here.”

She said outside criticism of Ms. Harris “did not deter her.”

Mr. Andrzejewski said Ms. Harris’s vice presidential office is concealing the full roster of employees and their salaries, breaking with past vice presidents and presidents who disclose staff and salaries, all of which are funded by taxpayers.

While Open the Books obtained at least a partial list through congressional records, the Harris vice presidential office has rejected public information requests to provide all the information, claiming to be exempt. 

Open the Books, in conjunction with another watchdog organization, is preparing to sue for the information. 

“Kamala Harris is the least transparent elected official in the entire country. We don’t know anyone else that gets to shield their spending,” Mr. Andrzejewski said.

The Harris campaign did not respond to an inquiry for this report. The Washington Times also reached out to a half dozen former Harris staffers, who did not respond.

• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.